
ROOSE'S 




Washington and Vicinity 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 

— — # 



i J7A c /t 

I t 

t UNITED STATES OK AMERICA. I 



ROOSE'S 



(Companion and Quide 



WASHINGTON 



VICINITY. 



^_ 



_ 






f/3/..ft 















Gibson Brothers, Printers. 
1876. 






Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1876, by 

W. S. Roose and John Gibson, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 






PUBLISHERS PREFACE 



It is hoped this little book will prove a pleasant as well as 
-useful Guide to the visitor to the Federal city. 

Its purpose is to introduce at a glance objects of interest to 
the attention, and then narrate facts connected with them ; in 
other words, to answer the questions which would naturally 
arise in an appreciative mind relative to what is presented to 
the view. 

The compiler of the manual has the reputation of being 
well acquainted with the subjects treated of; and we shall be 
disappointed if the work does not fully equal what could rea- 
sonably be expected. 



0OlS T TE]SrTS. 



Page. 

History of the District of Colum- 
bia 1-7 

Plan of the City 8, 9 

Population from 1S10, in decades, 
to 1870 9 

The Capitol : 

Situation 10 

Fronts of Capitol 11, 12 

Grounds 12 

Greenough's Washington 12 

Central East Portico 12-13 

Statue cfthe Discovery 14 

Statue (if Civilization 14 

Tympanum of the Portico 14 

Statue of War 14 

Statue of Peace 14 

Rogers' Bronze boor 15-17 

The Rotunda 17-26 

Landing of Columbus 17 

Discovery of the Mississippi. 18 

Baptism of Pocahontas iS 

Embarcation of the Pilgrims. 19, 

pendence. 20 

The Surrender of Burgoyne... 20 

Surrender of Cornwallis 21,22 

Resignation of Washington.-. 23 

Relievos in the Rotunda 23,24 

Brumidi's Picture 25,26 

Statue of Freedom 26 



Page. 

The Capitol — Continued. 

Old Hall of Representatives.. 26 
Houdon's Statue of Washing- 
ton 27 

Bust of Koskiusco 27 

Miss Ream's Statue of Lin- 
coln 27 

Mrs. Ames' Bust of Lincoln.. 28 

Bust of Crawford 28 

Statue of Alex. Hamilton 28 

Bronze Statue of Jefferson 28 

Portraits in Old Hall 28,29 

Mosaic of Lincoln 28 

Henry Clay 28 

Joshua R. Giddings 29 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 29 

Gunning Bradford 29 

Portrait of Jefferson 29 

Portrait of Benjamin West 

(by himself' 29 

Gen. Washington by Stuart.. 29 

Statuary furnished by the 

Gen. Greene 29 

Roger William- •■> 

han Trumbull 29 

Roger Sherman 30 

30 

R. R. Living, l. 11 3 



Page, 

The Q,^\io\— Continued. 

Gov. Winthrop 30 

Samuel Adams 30 

Ethan Allen 31 

Statue of Col. Baker, ordered 

by Congress 31 

New Hall Representatives. ..32-34 

Vanderlyn's Washington 32 

Lafayette, by Ary Scheffer... 32 
B r u m i d i ' s Washington at 

Yorktown 32 

Staircases 32,33 

Western Emigration 32 

Chippewa Indian Chief. 33 

Gen. Scott on horseback 33 

Thomas Jefferson, by Powers 33 

Attic story, House Library... 33 

Ground Floor 33 

Room of the Committee of 

Agriculture 33 

Heating and Ventilating Ap- 
paratus of the House 33 

The Crypt 34 

The Dying Tecumseh 34 

Bust of Pulaski 34 

The Tomb of Washington.... 34 

Court of Claims 34 

Library of Congress 34 

Law Library 35 

Supreme Court-Room 35 

Portrait Chief-Justice Mar- 
shall. 36 

Senate Chamber 36 

President's Room 36 

Marble Room 37 

Vice-President's Room 37 

Ladies' Reception-room 37 

Sergeant-at- Arms Room 37 



Page. 

The Capitol— Continued. 

Senate Post-Office 37 

Crawford Bronze Door 37 

Senate Extension Portico 38 

Statuary over Portico of Sen- 
ate Extension 38 

Room of the Official Report- 
ers of the Senate 39 

Statue of Franklin -. 39 

Powell's Victory of Lake Erie 39 

Canon Yellowstone 39 

Canon Colorado 39 

II Penserosa 39 

Storming of Chapultepec 39 

Statue of Hancock, by Stone. 39 

Illuminating loft of the Senate 39 
Ground '.Floor of the Senate 

Extension 40 

Room of Committee on Naval 

Affairs 40 

Room of Committee on Mili- 
tary Affairs 40 

Heating and Ventilating Ap- 
paratus of the Senate 40 

The Capitol Police 40 

History of the Budding of 

the Capitol 41, 42 

The Botanical Garden 42 

The Propagating Garden 42 

Reservations 43 - 45 

1. The President's Grounds 43 

2. The Capitol Grounds 43 

3. The Park or Monument, 

Government Nurseries 43 

4. University Square 43 

5. Arsenal Grounds 43 

6. West Market st. Square.. 44 

7. Centre Market st. Square 44 



t Page 

Reservations — Continued. 

8. National Church Square.. 44 

9. Judiciary Square 44 

10, 11, 12. Reservations sold 44 

13. Hospital Square 44 

14. Navy Yard 44 

15. 16. Eastern Market Sqrs. 44 
17. Townhouse Square 44 

Squares, etc 45~47 

Lying ivest of the Capitol. 

Scott Square 45 

Farragut Square 45 

Without name 45 

Statue (equestrian) of Scott... 45 

Franklin Square 45 

Rawlins Square and Statue... 46 

Mount Vernon Place 46 

Thirteenth and Fourteenth 

st. Circles 46 

Washington Circle 46 

Equestrian Statue of Wash- 
ington 46 

P-Street Circle 46 

Lying east of the Capitol. 

Stanton Place 46 

Lincoln Square 47 

Group of Emancipation 47 

The Avenues 47-50 

Tables relating to streets and 
avenues 49-50 

Time of opening and closing 

Public Buildings 51 

President's House 52-54 

Exterior 52 

First Floor 52 

Vestibule 52 

East-Room 52 

< rreen-Room 52 



Vll 

Page. 

President's House — Continued. 

Blue-Room ^2 

Red-Room 53 

State Dining-Room 53 

Private Dining-Room 53 

Second Floor 53 

Cabinet-Room 53 

Basement, etc 53 

History 53 

Stables and Conservatory 54 

Lafayette Square.. 54 

Mills' Statue of Jackson 54 

State Department 54"55 

Exterior 54 

Reception-room 54 

Sec. of State's Room 55 

Assist. See's Room 55 

ChiefClerk's " 55 

Library 55 

Treasury Department 55-56 

Exterior 55 

Bureau of Engraving and 

Printing 55 

Cash Room 55 

Vaults 56 

Photograph Office 56 

Coast Survey 56 

History 56 

War Department 57~59 

Exterior 57 

Secretary's ( >ffi< e 57 

General of the Army 57 

Signal Office 57 

Flag Room 57 

Quartermaster C.cn.'s Office 57 

Surgeon-General's Office- 57 

Army Medic al Museum. 

Ford's Theatre 57 



Till 

Page. 

Winder's Building 58 

Chief Engineer of the Army... 58 

Battle Record-Room 58 

File-Room 58 

Judge-Advocate-Gen's Office 58 

Ordnance Office 58 

Second Auditor of the Treas... 58 

The Arsenal 58 

Soldiers' Home 58 

Establishment 58 

Main Building 59 

New Hospital 59 

Scott's Pedestrian Statue 59 

National Military Cemetery... 59 

Navy Department 59-62 

Exterior 60 

Secretary's Office 60 

Admiral's " 60 

Hydrographic Office 60 

Nautical Almanac Office 60 

Divisions into Bureaus 60 

National Observatory 60 

The " Great Equatorial " 61 

Naval Hospital 61 

Navy Yard 61 

The Museum 61 

Vessels built 61 

Marine Barracks 62 

Marine Corps 62 

Post-Office Department 62-63 

Exterior 62 

City Post-Office 62 

Postmaster-General's Office... 62 

Dead-Letter Office 63 

History 63 

Department of the Interior 64 

Patent Office 64 

Exterior 64 



Page. 
Dept. of the Interior — Continued. 

History!' 64 

Interior 64 

Models 64 

Washington Relics 64 

Original Dec. of Independ- 
ence 64 

Office Secy, of the Interior... 64 

Bureau of Education 65 

Survey of Territories 65 

Pension Bureau 65 

Government Hospital for the 

Insane 65 

Columbia Institution for the 

Deaf and Dumb 66 

Columbia Hospital for Women 

and Lying-in Asylum 66 

Department of Justice 66 

History 66 

Gallery of Portraits of U. S. 

Attorneys-General 66 

City-Hall 67 

History 67 

Statue of Lincoln, by Flan- 

nery 67 

Police Court 67 

Reform School 67 

Department of Agriculture 67,68 

Exterior 67 

Plant-Houses 68 

History 68 

Agricultural Museum 68 

Government Printing Office 6S 

Washington Asylum 68 

Smithsonian Institution 69, 70 

Exterior 69 

Grounds 69 

Downing Vase 69 



IX 



Page. 
Smithsonian Inst. — Continued. 

Smithson History 69 

National .Museum 70 

Work of Institution 70 

Library Removed 70 

Washington Monument 70, 71 

Lapidarium 71 

Action of Congress in Centen- 
nial Year 71 

Corcoran Gallery of Art 71 

Exterior 71 

History 72 

Masonic Temple 72 

Odd-Fellows' Hall 72 

Providence Hospital 72 

Armory 73 

History 73 

Gonzaga College 73 

Columbia University 73 

History 73 

National Medical College 73 

Law Department 73 

Howard University 74 

Freedman's Asylum 74 

Wayland Seminary 74 

Benevolent Institutions 74-76 

National Soldiers and Sail- 
ors Orphans' Home 74 

Louise Home 74 

ington City < Orphan Asy- 
lum 75 

Children's Hospital 75 

St. John's Hospital for Child- 
ren 75 

St. .Ana's Infant Asylum 75 

St. Joseph's Male Orphan 

Asylum 75 

St. Vincent's Female Orphan 

Asylum 75 



Page. 
Benevolent Inst. — Continued. 

St. Rose's Orphan Home 75 

The Epiphany Church Home 75 

The Home for the Aged 76 

Women's Christian Associa- 
tion 76 

Hotels 76 

Places of Amusement 77 

Principal Markets 77 

Railroads 77 

Horse-Car Routes 78 

Churches 79-85. 

Baptist 79 

Christadelphian Synagogue... 80 

Christian 80 

Congregational So 

Episcopal 80 

Friend's Meeting-Houses 81 

German Reformed Church... 81 

Hebrew Synagogues 81 

Lutheran 82 

Methodist Episcopal 82 

Methodist Episcopal, South.. 83 

Methodist Protectant, etc 83 

New Jerusalem 84 

Presbyterian 84 

Roman Catholic 84 

Unitarian 85 

Universalist 85 

Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation Building S5- 

Public Schools... 85, 86 

Public School Statistics 86 

I api- 

tol 86 

Franklin School-House S6 

iton " " 86 

Jefferson " " 86 

Sumner " " S6 



Page. 

Public Schools — Continued. 

School-Houses east of Capi- 
tol 86 

Wallach School-House 86 

Lincoln " " 86 

Water-Works 87 

Cabin-John Bridge 87 

Little Falls of the Potomac... 87 

Chain-Bridge 87 

Great Falls of the Potomac... 88 

Analostan Island 88 

Cemeteiies 88,89 

Rock-Creek-Church Cemetery 88 

Glenwood 89 

Prospect Hill 89 

St Mary's Burying Ground.. 89 

.Mount Olivet 89 

Graceland 89 

Georgetown 89 

Georgetown Heights 89 

Oak Hill Cemetery 89 

Georgetown High-service 

Reservoir 90 

Convent of th£ Visitation 90 

Georgetown College 90 

Linthicum Institute 90 



Page. 

Georgetown— Continued. 

Peabody Library 90 

Home for Aged Women 90 

Alexandria 91 

Christ Church 91 

National Cemetery near Alex- 
andria 91 

Mount Vernon 91 

Fort Foot 91 

Fort Washington 91 

Mount Vernon Tomb 92 

" " House 92 

" " Ladies' Asso- 
ciation 92 

Arlington 92 

National Cemetery 92 

Unknown Tomb 93 

History 92, 93 

Fort Whipple 94 

Bladensburg 94 

" Battle of 94 

" Racers 94 

Duelling Ground. 94 

Chalybeate Spring 94 

Proposed Monument to President 

Lincoln ... 94 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Subject matter 
on page 

Map of Washington City. 

The Capitol — East Front n, 12 

West " ii, 12 

Greenough's Statue of Washington 12 

Statue of Discovery 13 

" Civilization 14 

" Freedom 26 

" Abraham Lincoln 27^ 

Botanical Garden 42,, 

Equestrian Statue of Gen. Scott „. 45 

" " Gen. Washington 46" 

Statue of Emancipation 47 

Executive Mansion — North Front _ 52 - 

" " South " 52, 

Equestrian Statue of Gen. Jackson 54 

State, War, and Navy Departments 54 

Treasury Department 55 

Ford's Theatre in 1865, now the Medical Museum 57,58- 

Soldiers' Home 58^ 

Post-Office Department 62^ 

Patent-Office 64 

Insane Asylum 6 5 

Department of Justice, (Freedman's Rank Building) 66 

Lincoln Monument 

Agricultural Department . 67, 

Smithsonian Institution 69 

Corcoran Gallery of Art 7I . 

Howard University 74 

Cabin-John Bridge 87 

'I be Tomb of Washington 

Arlington House ,, 

Contemplated Monument to Lincoln, East Front uf the Capitol 94 

View of Pennsylvania Avenue from the Treasury. 
Residence of the British Minister. 

11 

! LJ i 



Errata. 

Page 4, line 15 : " Dec. 3, 1799," should be " Dec. 3, 1789." 

Page 28: Article, Bust of Thomas Crawford, first line of article, "Crawford 
is the artist," should read Crawford " was " the artist. 

Page 31 : Article, Col. Edward D. Baker, a misstatement in first line of the 
article. The statue was ordered by Congress, and cost £10,000. 

Page 55 : Article, Treasury Department, 5th line of article, should read " the 
front first built was the ' east ' front." Also in 9th line, beginning of paragraph, 
should read " The ' west,' north, and south fronts." 

13 



THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



VTO American citizen should remain contentedly ignorant of 
-L-^ the history of the District of Columbia, and of the events 
which led to its selection for the permanent seat of the Federal 
Government. 

The Continental Congress opened its first session in Philadel- 
phia, Pa., Sept. 5, 1774, and the succeeding year it also met in 
that city. For several seasons the fortune of war caused its 
migration from place to place. In Dec. 20, 1776, it met in Bal- 
timore ; but again, March 4, 1777, it met in Philadelphia. In 
Sept. 27, 1777, it convened at Lancaster, Pa., and Sept. 30, 1777. 
at York, Pa. July 2, 1778, it returned to Philadelphia, where it 
continued to meet until 1783, when it was expelled by a mob. 
which the State authorities did not suppress. Congress then 
adjourned to Princeton, N. J., June 30, 1783. Nov. 26, 1783, it 
met at Annapolis, Md.; and it was while in session here that 
Gen. Washington, Dec. 23, resigned his commission as general- 
in-chief of the army at the close of the revolutionary contest. 
Nov. 1, 1784, it met at Trenton, N. J., from which it adjourned 
to meet Jan. 11, 1785, in New York city. This last continued 
its place of meeting until the adoption of the Constitution of the 
United States, in 1788. 

It was in the city of New York the First Federal Congress 
assembled — and the electoral votes were counted for the election 
of the first President of the United States. Gen. Washington 
was inaugurated President on the balcony of Federal Hall, (the 
site of the present New York Custom-house,) April 30, 1789. 

l 



The question ' ' where the permanent seat of government should 
be located" gave rise to anxious debates even in the Continental 
Congress ; and in the Convention which framed the Constitution 
the subject was waived because graver issues demanded the at- 
tention of that body, and it was deemed hazardous to decide upon 
what necessarily involved great local irritation. 

The question, however, early engaged the attention of the First 
Federal Congress. Pennsylvania was anxious to have again 
within her territory the seat of power. New York was deter- 
mined to retain, if she could, the possession which she held. 
New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, each stretched 
out an eager hand, presenting a several plea, for the coveted 
prize. The New England States seem to have kept silent as re- 
garded their own claims, while the extreme Southern States, sup- 
ported by Maryland and Virginia, determined to have the capital 
brought further South than either New York or Philadelphia. 
The South Carolinians were particularly anxious Philadelphia 
should not be selected because of the Quakers, who ' ' were con- 
tinually dogging Southern members with their schemes of eman- 
cipation." Not only were newspapers filled with the discussion 
of the question, but private journals and the correspondence of 
the period teem with the controversy. 

At length a bill passed the House, Sept. 22, 1789, ayes 31, noes 
1 7, locating the permanent capital ' ' on the river Susquehanna, 
in the State of Pennsylvania." This location was bitterly op- 
posed by Mr. Madison, who led the Southern members, and who 
was supposed also to express the wishes of President Washing- 
ton. In the Senate the bill was amended : the " Delaware river " 
and the neighborhood of Philadelphia, "including Germantown," 
was substituted instead, and some other new provisions were in- 
serted. On the return of the bill to the House it was again stren- 
uously opposed by Mr. Madison, who at last succeeded in hav- 



ing an unimportant amendment introduced, hoping that the 
delay consequent upon its consideration in the Senate would cause 
its being laid over to the next session of Congress. In this desire 
he was gratified. Instead of passing the bill the Senate " post- 
poned " its consideration, and Congress adjourned the next day, 
Sept. 29, 1789. 

At the next session of Congress the vexed question was again 
introduced. Partisanship ran high, and, in the opinion of many, 
upon its disposition seemed to hang the continued existence of 
the recently-formed Union. It was at this juncture that another 
question, involving the finances of the Republic, about which 
great diversity of opinion prevailed, and which also had enlisted 
warm and excited feeling, was made the basis of a compromise 
between the contending parties. 

Alexander Hamilton, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury, 
had proposed the assumption by the Federal Government of the 
State debts. This was strongly opposed by Virginia and the 
Southern States. It was ascertained that it required the change 
of two votes to carry into effect the financial project. To accom- 
plish this, and also settle the question of the selection of a place 
for the permanent capital, the aid of Thomas Jefferson, then re- 
cently returned from France, and appointed Secretary of State, 
was invoked. 

The great democrat proposed that the subject should be talked 
over at a dinner, to which Hamilton was invited. It was there 
settled that if the votes of Lee and White, of Virginia, should 
be changed in favor of assumption, that Hamilton and Robert 
Morris, of Pennsylvania, would bring such an influence to bear 
upon the question of the location of the capital as would insure 
its permanent establishment upon the banks of the Potomac. 

The bargain was faithfully kept. Hamilton's financial scheme 
was adopted, and on the 31st May. 1790, Pierce Butler, of South 



Carolina, obtained permission of the Senate "to bring in a bill 
to determine the permanent seat of Government of the United 
States." 

The bill located a district of territory for this purpose not ex- 
ceeding ten miles square, "on the river Potomac, at some space 
between the mouths of the Eastern Branch and Conogocheague ;" 
the capital to be removed thither in 1800, and until that time the 
temporary capital was to be established in Philadelphia. It passed 
the Senate July 1, 1780, ayes 14, noes 12. Four attempts were 
made in the House to change the site of the Federal District, but 
were voted down, and the Senate bill was finally agreed to, July 
9, 1700, by a vote of 32 ayes to 29 noes. It received the signa- 
ture of the President July 1G, 1790. 

[Maryland, by an act passed Dec. 28, 1788, and Virginia, by an 
act of Dec. 3, 1799, had previously authorized the cession of such 
portions of their territory as might be selected by Federal author- 
ity for the seat of the General Government.] 

An amendatory act, which passed Congress March 3, 1791, re- 
pealed so much of the act of July 16, 1790, as required the whole 
District to be located above the mouth of the Eastern Branch, 
and authorized the President ' ' to make any part of the said ter- 
ritory below the said limit, and above the mouth of Hunting 
creek, a part of the said District, so as to include a convenient 
part of the Eastern Branch, and of the lands lying on the lower 
side thereof, and also the town of Alexandria." It was provided 
that no public buildings should be erected otherwise than on the 
Maryland side of the Potomac. 

A proclamation had been issued by President Washington, 
dated Philadelphia, Jan. 2-1, 1791, defining the boundaries of the 
District selected by him pursuant to the provisions of the first 
act. This was now followed by another proclamation amenda- 
tory of the other, dated Georgetown, March 30, 1791. The 



boundaries of the territory were therein declared to be as fol- 
lows : 

"Beginning at Jones' Point, being the upper cape of Hunting 
creek, in Virginia, and at an angle in the outset of 4.*; degrees 
west of the north, and running in a direct line ten miles for the 
rirst line ; then beginning again at the same Jones' Point, and 
running another direct line at a right angle with the first, across 
the Potomac, ten miles, for the second line ; then from the ter- 
minations of the said first and second line, running two other 
direct lines, of ten miles each, the one crossing the Eastern 
Branch aforesaid and the other the Potomac, and meeting each 
other in a point." * * * "And the territory so to be located, de- 
fined, and limited shall be the whole territory accepted by the 
said act of Congress as the District for the permauent seat of the 
Government of the United States." 

This territory contained a surface of ten miles square, forming 
an area of 100 square miles, or 04,000 acres, and included both 
margins of the Potomac. Its situation lay between 38° 4s' and 
38 59' north latitude. The Capitol, afterward erected near its 
centre, is in 70 55' 30. 54" west longitude from Greenwich. 
Georgetown and Alexandria were within its limits — the remain- 
der was plantation or farm land. 

President Washington appointed, Jan., 1791, ex-Governor 
Thomas Johnson, of Md., Dr. David Stuart, of Va., and the 
Hon. Daniel Carroll, of Rock Creek, Md., the first three Com- 
missioners pursuant to the provisions of the act of July 16, 1 790, 
who were empowered "to survey" and "define and limit a 
district of territory * * for the permanent seat of Government." 
They were also "to have power to purchase or accept Buch 
quantity of land on the eastern side of the said river, [Poto- 
mac,] within the said district, as the President shall deem proper 
for the use of the United States," and " provide suitable build- 



6 

ings for the accommodation of Congress and of the President, 
and for the public offices of the Government of the United 
States ;" all subject to the approval of the President.* 

Interesting as the history really is of the work accomplished 
by the Commissioners, their vexatious trials and various disap- 
pointments, the limited space of the present publication will 
only permit a recapitulation of the main results of their efforts. 

The bargain and purchase of the land occupied by the Fed- 
eral City from the original proprietors was brought about by the 
following arrangement : 

Extracts from the Agreement of the Nineteen Original Proprie- 
tors. 

The limits of the District of Columbia, as they now exist, hav- 
ing been fixed and proclaimed in March, 1791, under the author- 
ity of acts of Congress, nineteen of the princi23al proprietors of 
the lands constituting the present site of the city of Washing- 
ton drew up and signed a general agreement among themselves, 
dated March 30, 1791, which they presented to the Commission- 
ers, as the basis of the terms on which they should dedicate their 
lands to the purposes of the Federal City, and as such it was ac- 
cepted by the Commissioners, and recorded in their books, on the 
12th April, 1791, as follows : 

"We, the subscribers, in consideration of the great benefits 
we expect to derive from having the Federal City laid off upon 
our lauds, do hereby agree and bind ourselves, heirs, executors, 
and administrators, to convey, in trust, to the President of the 
United States, or Commissioners, or such person or persons as 
he shall appoint, by good and sufficient deeds, in fee simple, the 
whole of our respective lands which he may think proper to in- 

■'•Vide Wyeth's Federal City. The compiler of this work has made very lib- 
eral use of Mr. Wyeth's book throughout, with the consent of that gentleman. 



elude within the lines of the Federal City, for the purposes and 
on the conditions following : 

•• The President shall have the sole power of directing the Fed- 
eral City to be laid off in what maimer he pleases. 

''He may retain any number of squares he may think proper 
for public improvements, or other public uses ; and the lots only, 
which shall be laid off, shall be a joint property between the trus- 
tees on behalf of the public and each present proprietor ; and 
the same shall be fairly and equally divided between the public 
and the individuals, as soon as may be, the city shall be laid off. 

"For the streets the proprietors shall receive no compensation 
— but for the squares or lands in any form which shall be taken 
for public buildings, or any kind of public improvements or mes, 
the proprietors, whose lands shall be taken, shall receive at the 
rate of 25 pounds per acre, [sixty-six and two-thirds dollars,] to 
be paid by the public." 

The lands were conveyed, in trust, by the original proprietors, 
to Thomas Beall, son of George, and John Mackall Gantt, to be 
by them disposed of, to be laid out as a Federal City, according 
to the above provisions. 

In 1846 that portion of the District of Columbia which had 
been originally a portion of Virginia was retroceded by act of 
Congress back again to that State. 



PLAN OF THE CITY. 



A Frenchman, Major L'Enfant, originated the plan of the Fed- 
eral City. He was a young officer belonging to the engineer 
corps of the French army, which aided us in our Revolutionary 
struggle. He early became a favorite of Gen. Washington, who 
approved his plan, and time has. since confirmed the wisdom of 
that approval. 

The Capitol was to be considered the centre of the city ; from 
it the streets are counted north, south, east, and west ; several 
of the avemies also radiate from it. The streets cross each other 
at right angles. Those running east and west are called after 
the letters of the alphabet, A, B, C, D streets, etc. ; those run- 
ning north and south, First, Second, Third streets, etc. 

The avenues, named after the different States at the time the 
city was laid out— and a few others since added — cross these 
streets diagonally, and point in every conceivable direction. 

North, South, and East Capitol streets intersect each other at 
the centre of the Capitol, and with an imaginary line continued 
west, divide the city into four sections. So there is a First 
street east and a First street west ; an A street north and an A 
street south, and so on throughout. 

There is no West Capitol street. Where that would have 
opened are gardens, etc., continued on until the grounds of the 
Smithsonian Institution are reached. Then succeed those sur- 
rounding the Agricultural Bureau building, and beyond them are 
those upon which the Washington Monument is erected. These 
reservations were intended to become an ornamented park, and 



9 

in the early history of the city this space is called the The Mall. 
The grounds stretching south from the President's House con- 
nect with those surrounding the Monument. 

The population of Washington City in 1810 was 8,208 ; in 1820, 
13,247; in 1830, 18,82(1: in 1840, 23,364; in 1850, 40,001: in 
1860, 61,122, and in 1870, 100,199. 



THE CAPITOL 



M^ HE United States Capitol, like the Capitol of ancient Rome, 
-L stands upon a hill, commanding a view westward, pro- 
nounced by the great traveller Humboldt one of the most beau- 
tiful his eyes had ever seen. 

The plateau east extends an elevated plain for a considerable 
distance towards the banks of the Anacostia or Eastern Branch 
of the Potomac. The descents of the hill north and south are 
graduated admirably — art as well as nature assisting in producing 
the present graceful declivities. 

The Capitol extends 751 feet 4 inches in length ; the greatest 
breadth, including the steps of the Extensions, is 324 feet. The 
whole covers an area of three-and-a-half acres, or 153,112 square 
feet. Its cost to the present time has been a little under 
$13,000,000. 

The centre portion of the building — the original Capitol — is 
built of yellowish sandstone, painted white, procured from an 
island in Acquia creek, Virginia. The island was purchased 
by Government from the Brent family, for $6,000, in 1791. 

The Extensions are of white marble, slightly tinged with blue, 
obtained from Lee, Massachusetts. The monolith marble col- 
umns of the Extensions, of which there are one hundred, were 
taken from a quarry in Maryland. 

The Dome is of iron, painted white, surmounted by the statue 
of Freedom, a bronze iigui'e 19^ feet in height. The tip of the 
feather of this statue is 287 feet 11 inches above the base line of 
the building east. Capitol hill is within a fraction of 'JO feet 

10 



11 

high : consequently the head of the statue is 377 feet above tide- 
water. In comparison, it may be interesting to say that the 
height of St. Peter's, at Rome, is stated in Knight's Cyclopaedia to 
be, from the pavement to the top of the cross, 430 feet, and that 
of St, Paul's, at London. 40-1 feet. 

The east Capitol park, stretching to the line of First st. east, 
has a frontage from B st. n. e. to B st. s. e., comprising a dis- 
tance of 1,500 feet. The grounds are laid out according to a plan 
designed by Fred. Law Olmstead, of New York city, whose ad- 
mirable ornamentation of Central Park has given him well- 
deserved prominence in the line of civil engineer and landscape 
gardener. 

East of the centre portico, fronting either side, is a magnifi- 
cent fountain, the two costing from forty to fifty thousand dol- 
lars. Costly lamps are interspersed throughout the grounds, 
making, at night-time, when lighted, a scene resembling our idea 
of fairy-land. 

The eastern front of the Capitol is, properly speaking, its main 
front It consists of a central Portico, 160 feet wide, with a pro- 
jection, including the steps, of 65 feet, ornamented with 24 pillars 
and 12 pilasters, crowned with a pediment of SO feet span. The 
whole front of what was the original Capitol is 352 feet : to this 
has been added, on either side, a colonnaded corridor of 41 feet ; 
to these are attached the Extensions— that of the Senate oil the 
north, and that of the House on the south end. 

Each Extension is adorned with a portico 142 feet 8 in. wide. 
with a pediment of 72 feet span; 22 columns and 12 pilasters 
of the Corinthian style ornament the Extension porticoes. 

The north and south fronts of the Capitol are alike. They ex- 
tend 239 feet, and have each a portico 120 feet front, with ;t 
projection of 10 feet in., and an entablature supported by lo 
columns. 



12 

The west front of the Capitol is that with which strangers 
ordinarily are most familiar. It consists also of three ornamented 
porticoes ; the central one a colonnade 100 feet front, with ten 
columns, eight of which are coupled, and a corresponding num- 
ber of pilasters. This portico communicates with the Library of 
Congress. Then to each of the Extensions is attached a portico 
similar in architectural details to the north and south porti- 
coes, with a length of 105 feet, ornamented with 10 columns. 

This front of the Capitol possesses the advantage of the addi- 
tion of the height of the hill, the top of which it occupies. The 
grounds extend to First st. west, and connect with the Botanical 
Garden. 

Mr. Olmstead's plan proposes that "on the western side a 
stone terrace is to take the place of the upper grassy terrace. 
This stone terrace will remove the impression of insecurity and 
give the building an appearance of greater stability. The ter- 
race is to be crowned with a handsome balustrade. The main 
western portico will be approached by a grand stone stairway." 

We will now return to the 

EAST CENTRAL PORTICO OF THE CAPITOL. 

Immediately opposite and facing this Portico is Greenough's 
Statue of Washington. It is of colossal size, and has an inter- 
esting history. It was ordered in 1832, to be placed in the centre 
of the Kotunda, over the tomb or vaulted chamber built for the 
reception of the remains of Washington two stories beneath. 
The statue was finished in 1840, and the artist received .$20,000 
while working on it. Two other bills in connection with it were 
paid him, amounting to $10,435.8;"). The expenses of trans- 
portation from Italy, its erection in the Kotunda, of its subse- 
quent removals, and of the pedestal upon which it is placed, 
have absorbed at least $13,000 more. 



13 

The chair upon which the figure sits is ornamented with the 
acanthus leaf and lions' heads. A small figure of Columbus and 
another of an Indian chief lean against its back. On the pedestal 
is inscribed the deserved eulogy on Washington, pronounced by 
Governor Henry Lee : "First in war— first in peace— first in 
the hearts of Ms countrymen." 

Washington sits in majesty, a sort of Jupiter. His person is 
nude to the waist. In his left hand is a sheathed sword, and 
with his right he points towards heaven. 

On the right side of the chair is a basso-relievo of Phoebus- 
Apollo driving the chariot of the sun around the world— thus 
representing, in pictured allegory, the rising sun, the crest of 
the national arms of the United States. On the left side of the 
chair is depicted the infant Hercules strangling the serpent, 
while Iphiclus, his feebler twin-brother, stretched on the ground, 
shrinks from the contest ; illustrating the genii of North and 
South America. On the back of the chair is inscribed : " Simu- 
lacrum istiud ad magnum Libertatus exemplum, nee sine ipsa du~ 
ratufum. Horatio Grreenoxxgh, faeiebat." This has been trans- 
lated by a distinguished scholar into — 

" This statue cast in Freedom's stately form, 
And by her e'er upheld. 

"Horatio Greenough, Sculptor." 

We will now ascend the steps. Upon them the Presidents of 
the United States are inaugurated : over a hundred thousand 
people, occupying the eastern park, might witness the ceremony. 

Above the south end of the steps, on an elevated block, stands 
a marble group by Signor Persico, called The Discovery, on 
which he worked five years. It consists of two figm*es : Colum- 
bus holding the globe in his hand triumphant, while beside him, 
wondering, almost terror-stricken, is a female figure, symboliz- 
ing the Indian race. The suit of armor worn by Columbus is 



U 

said to be a faithful copy of oue he actually wore. The group 
cost 824,000. 

On the north side of the steps, occupying a similar elevation, 
is another marble group — the artist, Horatio Greenough — called 
Civilization, or the Settlement of the Country. It represents 
the American pioneer in conflict with the Indian ; the fight is 
desperate : the wife of the frontier settler, with her babe, and a 
faithful dog, are the adjuncts. Greenough was at work eight 
years on this group, which cost .$24,000. 

TYMPANUM OF THE PORTICO. 

Before we enter the Portico we will direct attention to a group 
of allegorical figures of colossal size, said to be the design of 
John Quincy Adams, executed by Signor Persico. and occupying 
the tympanum of the Portico — just over our heads. 

The central figure is the Genius of America, crowned with a 
star, holding a shield ; on it are the letters U. S. A. The shield 
rests on an altar, on which, within an oaken wreath, is inscribed, 
"July 4, 1776." At her feet sits an eagle. Behind her is a 
spear. Hope on her left rests on an anchor. America directs 
the attention of Hope to Justice, who has in her right hand the 
Constitution of the United States. This composition is wrought 
in sandstone, and cost $1,500. 

Within niches on either side of the Bronze Door are statues, 
also the work of Signor Persico. 

The one on the north side is War. The figure grasps in his 
right hand a sword, in the other, a shield. His costume is Ko- 
man, and his belt and tunic are ornamented with appropriate 
symbols. 

Peace is a female figure of majestic beauty, with a gentle, 
winning smile, and in simple flowing robes. She holds a fruit- 
bearing olive branch in her hand. The cost of these two figures 
was |6,000 each. 



15 

Above the Brouze Door, sculptured in stoue by Capellano. is a 
bust of Washington crowned by Fame and Peace. 

THE ROGERS BRONZE DOOR. 

This is the main central door of the Capitol, and on it is a 
pictured history of events connected with the life of Columbus 
and the discovery of America. 

The door weighs 20,000 pounds: is 17 feet high and I» feet 
wide ; it is folding or double, and stands sunk back inside of a 
bronze casing, which projects about a foot forward from the 
leaves or valves. On this casing are four figures at the top and 
bottom, representing Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. A 
border, emblematic of conquest and navigation, runs along the 
casing between them. 

The Door has eight Panels beside the semi-circular one at the 
top. In each Panel is a picture in alto-relievo. 

It was designed by Kandolph Rogers, an American, and mod- 
elled by him in Rome, in 1858 : and was cast by F. Yon Mi'iller, 
at Munich, in 1861. 

The story the door tells is the History of Columbus and 
the Discovery of America. 

The Panel containing the earliest event iu the life of the 
discoverer is the lowest one on the south side, and repi'esents 
" * Columbus undergoing an Examination before the Council of 
Salamanca." 

The Panel above it contains ''Columbus' Departure from the 
Convent of La Rabida," near Palos. He is just setting out to 
visit the Spanish Court. 

The one above it is his "Audience at the Court of Ferdinand 
and Isabella." 

The next Panel is the top one of this half of the door, and 
represents the " Starting of Columbus from Palos on his first 
voyage." 



16 

The transom Panel occupies the semi-circular sweep over 
the whole door. The extended picture here is the "First Land- 
ing of the Spaniards at San Salvador." 

The top Panel on the other leaf of the door represents the 
"First Encounter of the Discoverers with the Natives." In it 
one of the sailors is seen bringing an Indian girl on his shoulders 
a prisoner. The transaction aroused the stern indignation of 
Columbus. 

The Panel next below this one has in it " The Triumphal 
Entry of Columbus into Barcelona." 

The Panel below this represents a very different scene, and is 
"Columbus in Chains." 

In the next and last Panel is the "Death scene." Columbus 
lies in bed. The last rites of the Catholic Church have been 
administered ; friends and attendants are around him ; and a 
priest holds up a crucifix for him to kiss, and upon it bids him fix 
his dying eyes. 

On the Door, on the sides and between the Panels, are sixteen 
small statues, set in niches, of eminent contemporaries of Colum- 
bus. Their names are marked on the Door, and beginning at 
the bottom, on the side from which we started in numbering the 
Panels, we find the figure in the lowest niche is Perez ; then 
above him is Cortez, and again standing over him is Ojeda. 

Vespucci occupies the next niche on the door. 

Then, opposite in line across the door, standing in two niches, 
side by side, are Mendoza and Alexander VI. 

Then below them stand Isabella and Ferdinand, King and 
Queen of Spain; beneath them stands the Lady Beatri:e de 
Bobadilla; beside her is Charles VIII, King of France. 

The first figure of the lowest pair on the door is Henry VII, 
of England ; beside him, stands John II, King of Portugal. 

Then, in the same line with them, across the Panel, is Pinzon. 







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Civilization. — (P. 14.) 



I be Dis< very.— (P. 13.) 



In the niche above Pinzon stands B. Columbus, the brother 
of the great navigator. 

Then comes Vasco Nunez de Balboa, and in the niche abovi . 
again at the top of the Door, stands the figure of Francisco 
Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. 

Between the Panels and at top and bottom of the valves of the 
Door are ten projecting heads. Those between the Panels are 
historians who have written on Columbus' voyages from his own 
time down to the present day, ending with Irving and Prescott. 

The two heads at the tops of the valves are female heads, while 
the two next the floor possess Indian characteristics. 

Above, over the transom arch, looks down, over all, the serene 
grand head of Columbus. Beneath it, the American Eagle 
spreads out his widely extended wings. 

Mr. Rogers received $8,000 for his models, and Mr. Von 
Muller was paid $ 17,000 in gold for casting the Door. To a 
large portion of this latter sum must be added the high premium 
on exchange which ruled during the war, the cost of storage and 
transportation, and the expense of the erection of the Door in 
the Capitol after its arrival. These items would, added together, 
far exceed $30,000 in currency. 

We will now enter the 

ROTUNDA. 

This magnificent apartment occupies the centre of the Capitol. 
It is 97 feet in diameter and 300 feet in circumference. It's 
height, from the floor to the centre of the pictured canopy which 
overhangs it, is 180 feet 3 inches. 

We will first look at the pictures which surround its circuit. 
Thei-e are eight of them, each occupying a large panel, and they 
measure 18 by L2 feet. 

The first in point of event is the Landing of Columbus at 



18 

San Salvador in 1492 ; by John Vanderlyn ; its cost was $12,000. 
This picture represents the scene Washington Irving so admirably 
describes in his "Voyages of Columbus," occurring the morning 
the boats brought the little Spanish band from the ships to the 
shore. "Columbus first threw himself upon his knees; then 
rising, drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and, assem- 
bling round him the two captains, with Kodrigo de Escobeda, 
notary of the armament, Kodrigo Sanchez, [the royal inspector,] 
and the rest who had landed, he took solemn possession of the 
island in the name of the Castilian sovereigns." The picture 
contains the figures of Columbus, the two Pinzons, Escobedo, all 
bearing standards ; Sanchez, inspector ; Diego de Arana, with 
an old-fashioned arquebus on his shoulder ; a cabin-boy kneel- 
ing ; a mutineer in a suppliant attitude ; a sailor in an attitude 
of veneration for Columbus ; a soldier whose attention is diverted 
by the appearance of the natives, and a friar bearing a crucifix. 

The second picture in succession of event, 1541, is De Soto's 
Discovery of the Mississippi, painted by Win. H. Powell; cost 
$15,000. The scene is a view of the Mississippi river, with 
islands in sight and canoes filled with Indians. On the bank, 
soldiers and priests are planting a cross ; to the left are wigwams 
and a group of Indians. De Soto on horseback is approaching 
the river in state, attended by a train of followers. A camp- 
chest, with arms, and a soldier dressing his wounded leg. are 
accessories of the painting. 

The next in order of time, 1013, is The Baptism of Poca- 
hontas, by John Gadsby Chapman; cost $10,000. 

This picture tells its own story. The characters introduced 
are Pocahontas, John Rolfe, afterwards her husband, with the 
Rev. Alex. Whitaker, who is performing the ceremony ; Sir Thomas 
Dale stands on his right, his standard-bearer and page near him. 
The sister of Pocahontas, with her child, is seated on the floor ; 



19 

Opeehankanough, an Indian chief, also is seated, while Nanta- 
qtUAS and Opachisco, her brother and uncle, stand near her. 
Other figures, male and female, are stationed in different parts 
of the church ; among them are Richard Wyffin, Mr. and Mrs. 
Forrest, John and Anne Laydon, and Henry Spilman. 

The succeeding picture, in chronological series, is The Em- 
barcation of the Pilgrims from Delft-Haven, in Holland. 21st 
July, 1620. Painted by Robert Walter Weir. Cost $10,000. 

The scene depicted is the delivery of the parting prayer of Mr. 
Robinson, the pastor of the little congregation, on board the 
SpeedweM, surrounded by the pilgrims and their friends. The 
persons represented are the pastor, then Elder Wm. Brewster, 
with open Bible before him, Mrs. Brewster and a sick child, Gov. 
Carver, Wm. Bradford, Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, Miles Standish and 
Rose, his wife, Mrs. Carver and child, Mrs. Bradford, Captain 
Reynolds and sailor, with several children, a nurse, etc. 

The four other pictures were painted by Col. John Trumbull, 
son of Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut previous to 
and during the Revolution. Col. Trumbull was himself at one 
time aid-de-camp of General Washington, but retired from the 
service in 1777. 

The Trumbull series of pictures are especially valuable, because 
each of the many faces painted in them are actual likenesses, 
for which many of the subjects sat to the artist, and when this 
was not the case, copies of portraits at the time in the possession 
of the respective families were introduced. The paintings are 
the result of many years' devotion to his art by Col. Trumbull, 
and of a patriotic endeavor to perpetuate the grand deeds which 
they commemorate. 

Col. Trumbull received for these four pictures $82,000. They 
were ordered in 1817 and finished in 1824. Col. Trumbull was 
born 1756; died 1843. 



20 

The Declaration of Independence, 1776. The room is copied 
from that in which Congress sat. The Committee of Five who 
reported the draft of the Declaration, Jefferson, John Adams, 
Franklin, Sherman, and R. R. Livingston, stand near the table 
at which Hancock, the president, sits. 

The other portraits are, commencing on the extreme left, 1, 
George Wythe, of Va. ; 2, Win, Whipple and, 3, Josiah Bartlett, 
of N. H.; 4, Benj. Harrison, of Va.; 5, Thomas Lynch, of S. C. : 
6, Richard Henry Lee, of Va. ; 7, Samuel Adams, of Mass.; 8, 
George Clinton, of N. Y.; 9, William Paca and, 10, Samuel 
Chase, of Md.; 11, Lewis Morris and, 12, William Floyd, of N. 
Y.; 13, Arthur Middleton and, 14, Thomas Hayward, of S. C; 
15, Charles Carroll, of Md.; 16, George Walton, of Ga.; 17, Rob- 
ert Morris, 18, Thomas Willing, and, 19, Benjamin Rush, of Pa.; 
20, Elbridge Gerry and, 21, Robert Treat Payne, of Mass.; 22, 
Abraham Clark, of N. J. ; 23, Stephen Hopkins and, 24, William 
Ellery, of R. I.; 25, George Clymer, of Pa.; 2G, William Hooper 
and, 27, Joseph Hewes, of N. C; 28, James Wilson, of Pa., and 
29, Francis Hopkinson, of N. J. 

Then comes the Committee of Five, already noted ; after 
which, still continuing, are — 

35, Richard Stockton, of N. J.; 36, Francis Lewis, of N. Y.: 
37, John Witherspoon, of N. J.; 38, Samuel Huntington, 39, 
William Williams, and, 40, Oliver Wolcott, of Conn.; 41, John 
Hancock, of Mass , President of Congress ; 42, Charles Thomp- 
son, of Pa.; 43, George Reed and, 44, John Dickinson, of Del.; 
45, Edward Rutledge, of S. C; 46, Thomas McKean, of Pa.: 
and, 47, Philip Livingston, of N. Y. 

Surrender of General Burgoyne, Saratoga, Oct 17, 1777. 
"The painting represents Gen. Burgoyne, attended by Gen. 
Phillips, and followed by other officers, arriving near the marque 
of Gen. Gates. 



21 

"Gen. Gates has advanced a few steps to meet his prisoner, 
who, with Gen. Phillips, has dismounted, and is in the act of 
offering his sword, which Gen. Gates declines to receive, and in- 
vites them to enter and partake of refreshments. A number of 
the principal officers of the American army are assembled near 
their General." These we will now enumerate. 

(The numbering commences on the extreme left of the picture. ) 

1. Major Lithgow, of Mass.; 2, Colonel Cilly and, :;, General 
Stark, of N. H.: 4, Captain Seymour, of Conn., of Sheldon's 
horse; .">, Major Hull, and, (5, Colonel Greaton, of Mass.: 7, Major 
Deai-born, and, S, Colonel Scammell, of N. H.: and, 9, Colonel 
Lewis. Quartermaster-General, N. Y. 10, Major-General Phil- 
lips, of the British army: 11, Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, 
British, and, 12, General Baron Reidesel, German. 13, Colonel 
Wilkinson, Deputy Adjutant-General, American: 14, General 
Gates; 15, Colonel Prescott, Mass. Volunteers; 16, Colonel Mor- 
gan, Va. Riflemen; 17, Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam, of 
Mass.; 18, Lieutenant-Colonel John Brooks, late Governor of 
Mass.; 19, Reverend Mr. Hitchcock, Chaplain, of R. I.: 20, Major 
Robert Troup, Aid-de-Camp, N. Y. ; 21, Major Haskell, of 
Mass.; 22, Major Armstrong, Aid-de-Camp; 23, Major-General 
Philip Schuyler, Albany; 24, Brigadier-General Glover, of Mass.; 
25, Brigadier-General Whipple, N. H. Militia : 26, Major Matthew 
Clarkson, Aid-de-Camp, N.Y., and, 2", Major Ebenezer Stevens, 
of Mass., Commander of Artillery. 

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Oct. 19, L781. 
This was the triumphant closing scene of the war ; and the 
glory of the triumph seems to linger on the glowing canvas. 

••The painting represents the moment when the principal 
officers of the British army, conducted by Gen. Lincoln, are 
passing the two groups of American and French generals, and 
entering between the two lines of the victors.'' 



22 

The names of the officers represented will be found below. 
The portraits of the French officers were obtained in Paris in 
1787, and were painted from the living men in the house of Mr. 
Jefferson, then Minister to France from the United States. 

"Lord Cornwallis himself did not appear. The British forces 
were led by Gen. O'Hara, who, approaching Gen. Washington, 
took off his hat and apologized for the non-appearance of Lord 
Cornwallis, on account of indisposition. Washington received 
him with dignified courtesy, but pointed him to Major-General 
Lincoln as the officer who was to receive the submission of the 
garrison." 

1, Count Deuxponts, Colonel of French Infantry; 2, Duke de 
Laval Montmorency, Colonel of French Infantry ; 3, Count Cus- 
tine, Colonel of French Infantry ; 4, Duke de Lauzun, Colonel 
of French Cavalry ; 5, General Choizy ; 6, Viscount Viomenil ; 
7, Marquis de St. Simon ; 8, Count Fersen, Aid-de-Camp ; and, 

9, Count Charles Damas, Aid-de-Camp of Count Eochambeau ; 

10, Marquis Chastellux ; 11, Baron Viomenil; 12, Count de 
Barras, Admiral ; 13, Count de Grasse, Admiral ; 14, Count 
Rochambeau, General en Chef des Franchise ; 15, General Lin- 
coln ; 16, Colonel Ebenezer Stevens, of the American Artillery; 
17, General Washington, Commander-in-Chief; 18, Thomas 
Nelson, Governor of Va.; 19, Marquis La Fayette; 20, Baron 
Steuben ; 21, Colonel Cobb, Aid-de-Camp to General Washing- 
ton ; 22, Colonel Trumbull, Secretary to General Washington ; 
23, Major-General James Clinton, N. Y.; 24, General Gist, 
Maryland ; 25, General Anthony Wayne, Penn. ; 20, General 
Hand, Adjutant-General, Penn.; 27, General Peter Muhlenberg, 
Penn.; 28, Major-General Henry Knox, Commander of Artillery ; 
20, Lieutenant-Colonel E. Huntington, Acting Aid-de-Camp of 
General Lincoln ; 30, Colonel Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster- 
General ; 31, Colonel Alexander Hamilton, Commanding Light 



23 

Infantry: 32, Colonel John Laurens, of S. C; 33, Colonel Wal- 
ter Stuart, of Philadelphia ; and, ;U, Colonel Nicholas Fish, of 
X. Y. 

Resignation of General Washington : Annapolis, Dec. 23, 
ITSj. General Washington, after taking leave of his old com- 
rades at New York, accompanied by only two of them, proceeded 
to Annapolis, where Congress was then sitting, and there resigned 
his commission. 

The persons introduced, whose portraits are given, are : 
1. Thomas Mifflin, of Pa., President of Congress; 2, Charles 
Thompson, of Pa; 3, Elbridge Gerry, of Mass.; 4. Hugh Wil- 
liamson, of N. C: 5, Samuel Osgood, of Mass.: 6, Edward Mc- 
Comb, of Del.; 7, George Partridge, of Mass.; 8, Edward Lloyd, 
of Md.: :>, 11. D. Spaight and 10, Benjamin Hawkins, of N. C; 
11, A. Foster, of N. H.: 12, Thomas Jefferson, of Ya.: 13, Ar- 
tnur Lee, of Ya.; 14, David Howell, of R. I.: 15, James Monroe, 
of Ya. : 16, Jacob Reid, of S. C, members of Congress; 17, 
James Madison, of Ya., spectator; 18, William Ellery, of R. I.; 
19, Jeremiah Townley Chase, of Md.; 20, S. Hardy, of Ya.: 21. 
Charles Morris, of Pa., members; 22, General George Washing- 
ton : 23, Colonel Benjamin Walker, and 24, Colonel David Hum- 
phrys, Aids-de-Camp ; then, 2.">, General Smallwood, of Md.: 26, 
General Otho Holland Williams, of Md.; 27, Colonel Samuel 
Smith, of Md. ; 28, Colonel John E. Howard, of Baltimore, Md. ; 
2!», Charles Carroll, and two daughters, of Md.: 30, Daniel, of 
St. Thomas Jennifer, Md.: 31, Mrs. Washington, and her grand- 
children, spectators. 

Relievos in the Rotunda. 

Over each of the four doors leading from the Rotunda ait 
tillo-rdU ros in stone. The cost of the four is said to have been 
$1 1,000. 



24 

The group over the east door is " The Lauding of the Pilgrims 
ou Plymouth Kock in 1620." The artist was Signor Enrico 
Causici, of Verona, a pupil of Canova. 

That over the north doorway is "William Penu's Treaty with 
the Indians in 1680." A Frenchman, Monsieur N. Gevelot, exe- 
cuted this work in 1827. 

Over the door opening west is " The Preservation of Captain 
Smith by Pocahontas in 1G00." Signor Capellano, another pupil 
of Canova, was the artist. It was executed in 1825. 

The group over the doorway leading south is the " Conflict 
between Daniel Boone and the Indians, 1775." This is the work 
of Causici. 

Eight long narrow basso-relievos of arabesque pattern are in 
the panels above the pictures. Four of them contain medallion 
heads. The heads are portraits of Columbus, Cabot, Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh, and La Salle. The whole of them cost $9,500. 

There is above the architrave a sunken space, now a blank 
wall, nine feet high, surrounding the chamber. It is proposed 
that this recessed panel shall be filled with a picture or an alto- 
relievo, illustrative of "American History," appearing a proces- 
sion of figures making the rise from aboriginal barbarism to our 
present civilization. 

A short distance above the frieze thirty-six tall windows admit 
a flood of light into the chamber. Above them springs the arch 
of the dome, lessening in curvature like the inside of an egg- 
shell, until contracted to a space of 50 feet in diameter, forming 
the eye of the dome. 

Beyond and over this open eye, within the canopy that over- 
hangs it, is painted Brumidi's allegorical fresco of the Apotheosis 
of "Washington.* 

■'-■ The word " Apotheosis" is of Greek origin, and means the enrolment of a 
mortal among the gods. 




■mmx*m 



Department of Justice, (Freedman's Hank Building.) 



25 

Brumidi's Allegorical Painting. 

The central group of the picture represents Washington 
seated in majesty. On his right is the Goddess of Liberty, 
and on his left is a winged idealization of Victory and Fame — 
sounding a trumpet and displaying the victor's palm. Before 
the three, forming a semicircle, are thirteen female figures. 
They represent the thirteen original States ; each is crowned 
with a star, and they hold up a ribbon-banner inscribed " K 
Pluribua Uhum." 

Below this centre group are six other groups round the base 
of the canopy. 

The first, occupying the west, is War. Freedom, with uplifted 
sword, is striking down tyranny and kingly power. An angry 
Eagle, striking with his beak, is fighting for, and by the side of. 
Freedom. 

The second is Agriculture. Ceres, Flora, and Pomona figure 
in this group. 

Then succeeds Mechanics. Vulcan, with his right foot rest- 
ing on a cannon, and surrounded by machinery, forges, mortars, 
and cannon balls, is the stalwart genius of this group. 

The next, and occupying the east, is Commerce. Mercury 
holds in his hand a bag of gold, to which he is directing the at- 
tention of Robert Morris. 

The group beside this symbolizes the Marine. Aphrodite, 
[Venus,] half risen from the waves, holds in her hand the Atlan- 
tic cable, given her by a winged cherub, and is about dropping 
it into the sea. Neptune, astonished, is emerging from the 
deep. 

The last is The Arts and Sciences. Minerva stands glo- 
riously prominent with helmet and spear. Near her, attentive 
to her teachings, are Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, and 
S. F. B. Morse. There are also boys, with wondering eyes and 



26 

expressive gestures, listening to the instructions of a school- 
teacher. 

This painting covers an area of 4,66-1 square feet. Mr. Bru- 
midi received for his work $39,500. 

The stairway still ascends above the picture, and traverses the 
top of the canopy between the two shells, until it reaches the 
" Tholus " or "lantern " of the Dome. 

The Statue of Freedom 
crowns the Dome. It weighs 14,985 pounds, and was placed in 
position Dec. 2, 1863. The forts then surrounding Washington 
fired a salute in honor of the occasion. Mr. Crawford received 
for his model $3,000, and the casting of it, by Mr. Clark Mills, 
with all the attending expenses, netted an additional sum of 
$20, 796.82. 

At night, the Kotunda, Dome, and Tholus are lighted by 1,280 
gas-jets ignited by electricity. The electric-room is situated in 
the central portion of the building. 

We will now descend from the Dome again to the Rotunda, and 
enter the doorway leading south from that apartment. 

Passing through a small vestibule, we shall then find ourselves 
in the 

Old Hall of Representatives. 

This chamber, resembling an ancient Grecian theatre, is 95 
feet long, and 60 feet in height to the most elevated point of the 
ceiling. Twenty-six pillars and pilasters of Potomac marble 
support a dome with painted caissons. A cupola, painted by 
Bonani, an Italian, admits light from above. 

Under a sweeping arch near the dome is a colossal figure of 
Liberty, by Causici, in plaster. Beneath it, on the entablature, 
is sculptured, in stone, the American eagle in the act of taking 
wing, by Valperti, also an Italian. 



27 

Opposite, over the door through which we entered, stands the 
old marble clock of the Hall. It represents the Genius of His- 
tory recording the events of the nation. She stands in a grace- 
ful attitude, with pen iu hand, on a winged car rolling over a 
globe. The wheel of the car serves as the face of the clock. 
This beautiful work of art was executed by Signor C. Franzoni, 
an Italian, who died May 12, 1819. The credit of designing it 
is a matter of controversy. 

This Old Hall is now used as a statuary-room, in compliance 
with a suggestion of Senator Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, mad. 
when a member of the House, that " each State should be permit- 
ted to send the effigies of two of her chosen sons, in marble or 
bronze, to be placed permanently here." Other statuary, be- 
longing to the Government, mostly of historical interest, with 
paintings, etc., have also been placed in their companionship. 

Of this latter class we will first speak : Among them stands a 
plaster cast of 

Houdon's Washington. 

Houdon came from France with Franklin in 1785, and obtained 
his model from Washington himself. He remained a guest for 
two weeks at Mount Vernon. The present copy was taken by 
Hubard, and cost !$2,000. 

Bust of Kosciusko. 

Born 1755, died 1817. The artist who made this bust wasal--<> 
a Pole, named Mochowski. He assumed as his American name 
that of Saunders. It cost $500. 

Miss Ream's Statue of Lincoln. 
In 180<; Congress appropriated $10,000 for a full-length statin* 
of Mr. Lincoln. Miss Keam, of Washington city, received tli< 
commission for its execution. The work was finished in 1870, 
and on its completion an additional $5,000 was obtained by her 
from Congress. 



28 
Ames' Bust of Lincoln. 

Mrs. Sarah Fisher Ames, of Mass., received an order in 1868 
from Congress to make a bust of President Lincoln. She re- 
ceived $2,000 for her work. It stands on a Scotch granite pedes- 
tal, presented by A. Macdonald, Field & Co., of Aberdeen, Scot- 
land. 

Bust of Thomas Crawford. 

Crawford is the artist who designed the statue of Freedom, 
the Senate Bronze Door, the marble group above it, and the 
marble figures ornamenting the tympanum of the Senate Exten- 
sion Portico. His bust is the work of T. Gagliardi. The price 
paid for it was $ 100. 

Statue of Alexander Hamilton. 
Dr. Horatio Stone, of Washington-city, executed this statue in 
Rome. It arrived from Italy in 1868, and cost $ 10,000. 

The Bronze Statue of Thomas Jefferson, 
by David d' Angers, a French sculptor, was presented to Con- 
gress by Lieutenant Uriah P. Levy, U. S. Navy, in 1831, but was 
not formally accepted by Government until 1873. It stood, long 
ago, in the Rotunda, and after its removal from there was placed 
in front of the President's House, a position it occupied for 
many years. After its acceptance, upon the motion of Senator 
Sumner it was finally located in the old Hall. This bronze was 
cast by Honore Gonon et ses deux fits. 

The Portraits. 

These are a Mosaic of Mr, Lincoln, presented by SignorSal- 
viati, of Venice. Signor Salviati. is the great manufacturer of 
mosaic work in Italy. The probable mercantile value of this 
mosaic is about $1,000. Also, 

A full-length picture of Henry Clay, by Neagle. Cost $1,500. 



29 

A portrait of Joshua R. Giddings, by Miss C. L. Ransom. 
Cost, $1,000. 

A likeness of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton. born 1737, died 
1832 : the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Painted by Chester Harding. Cost, $500. 

In 1872 a portrait of Gunning Bedford, a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress from Delaware, was presented by the heirs of 
the family to Government. 

A portrait of Thomas Jefferson, by Sully — an original, es- 
teemed an admirable picture— placed here in 187."). Cost, $200. 

A portrait of Benjamin West, painted by himself, is also a 
recent addition. 

An original portrait of General Washington, by Stuart, pur- 
chased in 187G, by the Joint Committee on the Library, from ex- 
Senator Chesnut, of Camden, S. C, for $1,200. 

Statuary Furnished by the States. 
Rhode Island contributed the first of all the States the per- 
mitted quota, viz : 

Major-General Nathaniel Greene, 
born 1742, died 178G. The sculptor was Henry K. Brown. The 
work is dated Rome, 1809, Aug. 6. And 

Roger Williams, 
the pioneer-apostle of liberty of religious opinion ; born 1606, 
died 1683. The artist was Franklin Simmons, of R. I. The 
marble was cut in Rome. Date, 1870. 

Connecticut was the next to send her marble representation. 

One is 

Jonathan Trumbull, 

the last colonial governor of the State, who became a tow. or oi 
strength to the revolutionary movement. Rorn L710; died L785. 



30 

He was the father of the painter, Col. Trumbull ; he also was the 
intimate friend of Washington, and because of their familiar 
intercourse Washington applied to him the soubriquet of Brother 
Jonathan. The other is 

Roger Sherman, 
the shoemaker, afterward lawyer, judge, delegate to Congress, 
one of the Committee of Five, and signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, is the other. Born 1721 ; died 171)3. The artist, 
E. E. Ives, a native of Connecticut, made both these statues in 
Rome. They were formally unveiled February, 1872. 
New York has sent in bronze . 

George Clinton, 
who died at Washington city in 1812. Vice-President U. S. 
Artist, Henry Ft. Brown; 1873. Founders, Robert Wood & Co., 
Philadelphia. And 

Robert R. Livingston, 
one of the Committee of Five who presented the Report, but who 
was not a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was 
the first chancellor of the State of New York, and administered 
the oath of office to President Washington. He was also Minis- 
ter to France when the purchase of Louisiana was completed. 
E. D. Palmer, artist; 187L Cast by F. Barbedienne, founder, 
Paris. 

Gov. John Winthrop 

is a„contribution from the State of Massachusetts. By Richard 
S. Greenough, the brother of Horatio Greenough. And 

Samuel Adams, 
who has been proudly denominated "The Father of the Revo- 
lution." George Clymer wrote of him in 1773 : "All good men 



31 

should erect a statue to him in their hearts." Samuel Adams was 
born in Boston, Sept, 22, 1722; died Oct. 2, 1S03. He was a 
cousin of John Adams, second President of the United States. 

The bitterness of Tory hate against him is manifested in the 
words of Bernard, who wrote : "Damn Samuel Adams! every 
dip of his pen stings like a horned snake. " 

The artist, Miss Whitney, has produced an admirable statue 
of the Revolutionary hero. 

Col. Ethan Allen 
is one of the representative figures sent from Vermont. It is of 
colossal size. Artist, Lukin G. Mead. 

Col. Edward D. Baker, 
is a contribution from the State of Oregon. Born in England, 
of poor parents, he was brought a boy to this country, where, 
with his father, he worked at weaving. He eventually became a 
Senator of the U. S., and died at Ball's Bluff, near Leesburg, 
gallantly fighting rebellion at the head of his regiment, Oct. 21, 
1861. The artist was Horatio Stone, and this statue was the 
last work of his graceful chisel. Doctor Stone died in Italy in 

is;:.. 



32 

Passing out of the Old Hall through the south door we enter 
the House Extension of the Capitol. 

The New Hall of Representatives 

is in the centre of that Extension. The chamber is 139 feet 
long, 93 feet wide, and 36 feet high. It has a gallery on its four 
sides capable of having crowded into it 1,200 persons. Portions 
are allotted to the diplomatic corps and reporters of the press. 
There are also divisions for the families of the Cabinet officers. 
Senators, and Representatives ; the remainder is for visitors. 

The ceiling is of iron, gilded and bronzed, and is supported 
by trusses from the roof. Its centre is a skylight, panelled with 
glass : in each panel is painted the arms of a State. 

Seats for the members, with desks in front of them, are ranged 
in successive semicircles facing the Speaker's desk. In front of 
it sit the various clerks and phonographic reporters. 

A full length likeness of Washington, by Vanderlyn, which 
cost $2,500, is on one side of the Speaker's chair, and on the 
other side is a likeness of Gen. Lafayette, by Ary Scheffer, 
which was presented to Congress by the artist about 1824-25. 

A fresco by Brumidi, representing "Gen. Washington refusing 
Lord Cornwallis' request for an armistice at Yorktown, just be- 
fore the final surrender," occupies a portion of the wall west of 
the portrait of Lafayette. 

Corridors, paved with encaustic tiles, surround the Hall, and 
afford entrance to various rooms for the officers of the House and 
for the use of committees. The Speaker's room is a very elegant 
apartment south of the Hall. 

Staircases of Tennessee marble on the east and west sides of 
the Hall lead to the galleries. 

On the wall, above the western staircase, is Leutze's picture of 
"Western Emigration." Cost $20,000. 




Botanical Garden. 




Pennsylvania Avenue, from the Treasury to the Capitol 



33 

At the foot of this staircase is a bust, in bronze, of a Ohippewa 
Indian chief, "The Buffalo." 

An equestrian picture, on canvas, of Gen. Scott occupies the 
same position above the eastern staircase. It is still the property 
of the artist, Edward Troye. 

At the foot of this staircase stands a statue of Thomas Jeffer- 
son, by Powers ; it cost $10,000. 

Various committee-rooms and rooms appropriated to news- 
paper reporters are situated in the upper story of the Extension, 
to which we now ascend. 

There is also from here access to the Library of the House, 
which occupies the story above the communicating corridor lead- 
ing from the Old Hall. 

Above the roof of the Hall is the illuminating vault of the 
House. Hundreds of gas-jets are placed above the pictured sky- 
light. They communicate with the electric apparatus by which 
the Rotunda and Dome is lighted, and at night flood the cham- 
ber with a brighter light than that of day. 

We will now descend to the ground-floor. This is occupied by 
committee-rooms, closets, bath and store-rooms, the folding- 
room, House Restaurant, etc., etc. 

Of the committee-rooms the most beautiful in wall ornamenta- 
tion is that of the Committee on Agriculture. It is south of the 
west staircase. The frescoes illustrate subjects connected with 
agriculture. The artist was Signor Brumidi 

The central hall of the floor of this extension is lined with 
scaglioni and adorned with monolith marble columns of great 
beauty. 

Beneath this story is the heating and ventilating apparatus of 



34 

the House. The engineer in charge will explain the manner in 
which cool and hot air is forced into the Hall. 

The Crypt. 

Beneath the Rotunda is the Cbypt, so called from its resem- 
blance to the chambers of that name in cathedrals. It has nu- 
merous pillars, supporting groined arches, and is dimly lighted. 

There is here a huge marble figure — the Dying Tecumseh — 
the work of an Italian. It is not owned by Government. 

A bust of Pulaski, by Mochowski, is also here, which it is 
hoped Government will eventually purchase. 

The Tomb of Washington. 

Beneath the Crypt is a vaulted chamber, built to receive the 
remains of Gen. Washington and his wife. Visitors, upon appli- 
cation to the police of the Capitol, will be shown what is called 
the Tomb. 

Congress, in 1832, the centennial year of Washington's birth, 
made application to the then owner of Mount Vernon to obtain 
the remains of the illustrious dead, to be placed here, but they 
were refused; the chamber, consequently, has since remained 
empty. 

Court of Claims. 

On the ground floor of the centre portion of the Capitol, on 
the west side, is situated a suite of rooms occupied by the Court 
of Claims. 

The Library of Congress 

occupies the western projection of the original Capitol, and ac- 
cess is obtained to it from the Rotunda by the west door. 

These beautiful halls were designed by Thos. U. Walter. 
They are of iron, including shelves ; the floors are laid with 
encaustic tiles; consequently all is fire-proof. The centre hall is 



35 

01 feet long, 34 feet wide, 4nd 38 feet high. The side halls are 
96 feet long and 21 »t feet wide. 

The Library of Congress originated in 1800, and from that 
time until 1814 the number of volumes comprised about 3,000. 
It was destroyed by the British in that year, when they set lire 
to the Capitol. 

Mr. Jefferson's library, then considered one of the finest in 
the country, was purchased by Congress for $23,950 in 1815, and 
became the nucleus of a new collection, which, in 1851, com- 
prised 55,000 volumes. Dec. 25 of that year, a fire, originating 
from timbers carelessly exposed to flues, consumed 35,000 vol- 
umes, besides works of art, coins, etc., etc. 

The number of volumes in the Library in 1871 was 274,157 vol- 
umes and 50,000 pamphlets. Jan. 1, 1870, the number of vol- 
umes reported is 293,507, and 00,000 pamphlets. 

Although designed especially for the use of Congress and 
Government officials, any visitor over sixteen years of age can 
obtain books to read, only in the Library, by tilling one of the 
blanks to be found on the tables, and presenting it at the Libra- 
rian's desk. 

On the ground-floor, underneath the Supreme Court-room, is 
the law branch of the Library. The vestibule to this apartment 
is famous for its ornamentation of corn-stalk columns, with cap- 
itals of opening ears of corn. This room was once occupied by 
the Supreme Coiirt of the United States. 

Supreme Court-Room of the United States. 
This chamber is situated in what was the north wing of the 
original Capitol, and occupies the eastern side of thai portion of 
the building. It was the old United States Senate Chamber. It 
is semi-circular, 75 feet long, 45 feet high, and its greatest width 
45 feet. It is ornamented with columns of Potomac marble, 'and 



36 

has a dome ceiling. Ai*ound the semicircular wall are brackets, 
on which are placed the busts of deceased Chief-Justices. The 
room is beautifully carpeted. 

The rooms in its vicinity are appropriated to the officers and 
judges of the Supreme Court. 

In the robing-room hangs a portrait of Chief-Justice Marshall, 
by Kembrandt Peale, a companion-picture to his Washington. 
This portrait was presented to Chief-Justice Chase by the bar of 
New York, and at his death was bequeathed by him to the 
Supreme Court of the United States. 

Leaving the Supreme Court-room, we pass into the Senate Ex- 
tension, in the centre of which is the 

* Senate Chamber. 

In general arrangement and appearance this Chamber resembles 
the Hall of Representatives, though smaller. It is 112 feet long 
and 82 feet wide. The desks of the Senators are of highly pol- 
ished mahogany. In the skylight are painted symbols of Pro- 
gress, the Union, the Army, the Navy, and the Mechanical Arts. 

Immediately north of the Senate Chamber are three rooms of 
great beauty ; the most westerly one is 

The President's Room. 
Dimensions, 23 feet 2 inches by 21 feet 8 inches, with a cano- 
pied ceiling. The whole room is elaborately decorated in fresco 
and distemper. On the walls are the portraits of President 
Washington and his Cabinet. The ceiling is covered with alle- 
gorical illustrations of Keligion, Liberty, Executive Power, and 
Legislative Authority, with portraits of Columbus, Americus 
Vespucius, Wm. Brewster, and Benj. Franklin. The floor is 
tiled, but in winter is covered with a rich carpet. In this room 
towards the close of a session of Congress the President affixes 
his signature to bills. 



37 

The Marble Room. 
The walls of this room are of polished Tennessee marble and 
plate-glass. Four Corinthian columns of Italiau marble support 
the ceiling. Its length is 38 feet 7 inches, 1<H feet high, and 
width 21 feet 8 inches. It is used as a retiring-room by the 
Senators. 

The Vice-President's Room 

is of the same size as the President's, but the walls are unadorned. 
It is beautifully furnished, and here is hung Rembrandt Peale's 
celebrated likeness of Washington, which adorned the old Senate 
Chamber, and cost, in 1832, $2,000. Vice-President Wilson died 
in this room October, 1S7.~>. 

Ladies' Reception Room. 
This is elaborate in ornamentation, and its purpose is to pro- 
vide a place where ladies may obtain interviews with Senators. 
It is situated east of the three rooms last described, and next it 
is the room of the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate, and also 

The Senate Post-Office. 

This is admirably furnished for use. The ceiling was painted 
by Brumidi at a cost of #5,000. On it is represented History, 
Geography, Physics, and the Telegraph. 

We will now enter the hall leading to the east Senate Exten- 
sion Portico, and arrive at 

The Crawford Bronze Door. 

This door illustrates Revolutionary and Federal history, and 
cost for models $0,000; for casting $50,495.11. One valve is 
War and the other Peace. 

At the top of the War valve is the "Battle of Bunker Hill and 
Death of Warren, 1775." The next panel is fche "Battle of Mon- 
mouth and Rebuke of Gen. Charles Lee, the traitor. 1 77s. " 



38 

Then, again, below is ' ' Yorktown — the gallantry of Hamilton, 
1781 ;" and at the bottom of the door is a Hessian soldier in death- 
struggle with an American. 

At the foot of the Peace valve is an allegorical representation 
of the blessings of Peace. Then, above it, is the "Ovation to 
Washington at Trenton, 178!)." Next above that, "The First 
Inauguration of President Washington, 1789;" and in the top 
panel is pictured " The Laying of the Corner-stone of the United 
States Capitol, September 3, 1793." 

The door was cast at Chicopee, Mass., by James T. Ames. 

Above the door is a group in marble of History and Justice. 

The Senate Extension Portico, 
of which this is the door, has over its centre, in detached figures, 
an illustration of the ' ' Progress of American Civilization and 
the Decadence of the Indian Races." 

The centre figure is America. On her right [south] stands a 
soldier ; next him is Commerce — a merchant ; then comes 
Youth — two boys ; Education succeeds — a schoolmaster, with a 
boy pupil ; next, a Mechanic, resting against awheel ; and then are 
an Anchor and a Wheat Sheaf, which fill the rapidly narrowing 
space of the pediment. 

On the left [north] of America is a Pioneer settler chopping 
a tree ; then a Hunter ; next him sits an Indian chief ; beside 
him is an Indian woman with a babe ; and then, again, filling up 
the narrow space on this side, is an Indian grave. These figures 
were modelled by Crawford. He was paid for them, including 
the cost of Justice and History, $ 20,000. The additional cost 
for cutting amounted to $29,150. 

We will now return to the interior of the Senate Extension, 
and traverse again the beautiful hall, adorned with pillars and 
lined with scaglioni marble, communicating with the Portico. 



39 

Opposite the Senate Pc£t Office [south] is the room of the 
Official Reporters of the Senate. It is fitted up especially to 
aid the corps of gentlemen engaged in this work, and is also a 
vt rv beautiful apartment. 

At the foot of the east staircase of the Senate is a statue of 
Franklin, by Hiram Powers ; cost $10,000. 

On the wall hangs Powell's picture of the Battle of Lake 
Erie, September 10, 1813 ; cost $25,000. 

Ascending the stairs, we find magnificent corridors, paved with 
encaustic tiles, surrounding three sides of the Senate galleries. 

In this story, in a vestibule opposite the entrance to the ladies' 
gallery, hang two pictures by Thomas Moran, on canvas, of the 
Canon of the Yellowstone and the Canon of the Colorado. 
Each cost *10,000. 

II Penserosa. 

A beautiful female figura in marble, purchased by the Joint 
Committee on the Library, by Mozier, cost $2,000, is also placed 
here. 

Committee-rooms surround the various corridors. 

The illuminating loft of the Senate Chamber is reached by a 
stairway continued above the west staircase of the Senate Exten- 
sion. The "Wilson Patent Electric Gas-lighter," which consists 
in the application of the "spark," is in use. The illuminating 
process differs from that by which the Rotunda and House is 
lighted. 

Over the west staircase of the Senate, which is of white mar- 
ble, hangs the picture of The Storming of Chapultepec, by 
James Walker ; cost $f>,000. This picture was originally 
painted for a panel in the Committee-room of Military Affairs of 
the House, and doubtless will eventually be placed there. 

At the foot of this staircase is a statue of John Hancock, by 
Dr. Stone: cost $.5,500. 



40 

The rooms on the west side of the corridor on the main floor, 
which we have again reached, are appropriated to the clerks of 
the Senate. 

Ground Floor of the Senate Extension. 

This, like the same story of the House Extension, contains a 
Restaurant, Bath and Committee-rooms, etc., etc. The walls 
of the corridors on this side, however, are profusely decorated 
with paintings, viz., busts of distinguished Americans, flowers, 
fruits, and animals, besides frescoes of historical events, etc. It 
would require weeks of inspection to enable the visitor to attain 
anything like an intelligent appreciation of their variety and ex- 
cellence. 

The Room of the Committee on Naval Affairs is especially 
of surpassing beauty. It is literally covered, ceiling and walls, 
with pictures and figures relating to the marine. 

The Room of the Committee on Military Affairs is also 
profusely decorated. The pictures are illustrative of military 
service, and several of the famous battles of the Revolution are 
painted on the walls. A visitor should not neglect, if possible, 
to see these two rooms. 

Beneath this story is the heating and ventilating apparatus, by 
means of which the Senate is heated and cooled. To many this 
is a most interesting portion of the Capitol to visit, and strangers 
are invariably treated with politeness and their questions an- 
swered by the employes in charge. 

The Capitol Police. 

The Capitol police consists of a representative appointed from 
each State. The officers are a captain and lieutenants. 

The duties are to preserve order within the Capitol and 
grounds, (including the Botanical Garden ;) to protect the public 



' 




Washington. --(P. 46.) 





Jackson.— (P. 54.) 



Scott.— (P. 45,) 




Lincoln Monument.— ( P. 67.) 



41 

property from injury ; enforce all prescribed rules ; also to ex- 
tend to visitors proper courtesies, and furnish them with all de- 
sired information. 

They are on duty day and night, and because of their constant 
supervision ladies can, without fear of insult or molestation, 
wander at will anywhere throughout the building and grounds. 
Many of the gentlemen on this force have been distinguished 
soldiers in the late war. 

History of the Building of the Capitol. 

The corner-stone of the Capitol was laid with Masonic ceremo- 
nies September 18, 1793, by Master Mason George Washington, 
President of the United States. 

The plan approved of was that of Doctor Wm. Thornton, born 
in the West Indies, an amateur civil engineer and draftsman. 
The practical architect first employed in its erection was Stephen 
Hallet, a Frenchman, who modified Thornton's plan and substi- 
tuted some features of his own, which displeased Thornton, who 
possessed the ear of the President, and eventually became a com- 
missioner. Hallet was dismissed. Hoban, the architect of the 
President's House, was then put in charge for a short period. 

An Englishman, Mr. George Hadfield, was afterwards em- 
ployed, and he, in conjunction with Hoban, succeeded in getting 
the north wing ready for occupation in 1800. The Senate, House 
of Representatives, Supreme Court, and Library were accommo- 
dated in the one wing. 

Mr. Hadfield, however, became discontented and resigned his 
position. In 1803, Mr. Henry B. Latrobe, an Englishman of 
Huguenot descent, was his successor, and by him the south wing 
was completed In 1814 the British burned out the two wings. 
The space now occupied by the Rotunda, up to that period, was 



42 

only a wooden scaffolding, which united the two portions of the 
building. 

Latrobe was employed to rebuild the wings, and also to design 
and erect the Rotunda and Dome. Becoming dissatisfied, he 
resigned in 1817. Mr. Charles Bulfinch, of Boston, an American, 
was his successor. 

The foundation of the Rotunda was laid March 2, 1818. The 
Capitol, including the Rotunda and the first low-arched Dome, 
was considered finished in 1827. Mr. Bulfinch, after accomplish- 
ing his work, returned to Boston. 

The corner-stone of the Extension was laid in 1851, July 4. 
Daniel Webster made the oration. Mr. Thomas U. Walter, of 
Pennsylvania, designed and erected the Extension (north and 
south) and the new Dome. The architect in charge in 1876 is 
Mr. Edward Clark, formerly a pupil of Mr. Walter. The cost of 
the Capitol to present date has been a little under $13,000,000. 

The Botanical Garden, 

T 

under the efficient superintendence of Mr. Wm. R. Smith, 
is immediately west of the Capitol, lying between Maryland 
and Pennsylvania avenues. There is here a conservatory 300 
feet long. There are ten smaller conservatories. The first build- 
ings were erected in 1850. The accumulated appropriations, in 
Report of 1875, for " Green-Houses and Botanic Gardens," net 
$ 521,612.16. See Reservation, No. 2. 

Propagating Garden. 
This garden, established in 1858, was, until within a few years, 
situated west of Third street, on the "Mall," between Missouri 
and Maine avenues. About 1873 it was removed to the Wash- 
ington Monument grounds, and is in efficient existence. It 
covers 8 acres. Its products are distributed through members 



43 

of Congress to their variOMB constituency. It is under the United 
States engineer in charge of public buildings and grounds. See 
Reservation, No. 3. 

RESERVATIONS. 

There were originally set apart for various purposes seventeen 
reservations, designated in the early maps by figures from 1 to 
17. Most of them still remain, with slight modifications, in pos- 
session of the Government. Their whole original area was "»41 
acres. 1 rood. 2!> perches. Their present area is about 5 13 acres. 

Res. i — The President's Grounds. — This includes the sur- 
roundings of the Executive Mansion, extending from Lafayette 
Square on the north to the mouth of Tiber creek, in the neigh- 
borhood of the Washington Monument. On it are the Presiden- 
tial Mansion, the Treasury, the War, Navy, and State Depart- 
ments. 83 acres, 1 rood, 22 perches. 

Res. 2 — The Capitol Grounds. — This is the Mall, with the 
East and West Capitol Parks ; its western line is 14th st. west. 
On it are the Capitol, the Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian 
Institution, and the Agricultural Department ; to this list we are 
sorry to add the depot of the Baltimore and Potomac i-ailroad. 
Original area, 227 acres, 8 perches. 

Res. 3 — The Park. — Bounded by 14th st. west on one side 
and the Potomac river on the other. This reservation is occu- 
pied by the Washington Monument and the Government nurse- 
ries. 2i» acres, 3 roods, 9 perches. 

Res. 4 — The University Square. — On this reservation is sit- 
uated the United States Naval Observatory. 21 acres, 18 perches. 

Res. 5 — The Arsenal Grounds. — This is at the foot of -H st. 
west, and is the most southern portion of Washington City. In 
18.")7 this plat was extended by purchase. In the Penitentiary 
which stood here, but since removed, the conspirators adjudged 



u 

guilty of Mr. Lincoln's murder were tried, and afterwards hung 
within its walls. 

Res. 6 — West Market-steeet Square. — This is at the foot 
of 20th and 21st sts. west, and is now covered with water. 

Res. 7 — Centre Market Square. — Occupied by the principal 
market in the city ; 7th to 0th st. west, facing Pennsylvania ave- 
nue. 

Res. 8 — National Church Square. — Now occupied by Patent 
Office . Area, 4 acres, 22 perches. [See article, Patent Office, in 
this volume.] 

Res. g — Judiciary Square. — The site of the City Hall and 
surrounding grounds. 

Res. io. — North of Pennsylvania avenue, between 3d and 4^ 
sts. west. In 1822 Congress granted to the corporation the privi- 
lege of selling this reservation in lots to pay for the removal of 
the canal and to fill up the low grounds. 

Res. ii — Between B and C sts. north and 2d and 3d sts. west. 
Disposed of for the same purpose as Kes. 10. 

Res. 12. — North of Pennsylvania avenue, between 2d and 3d 
sts. west. Disposed of the same as Nos. 10 and 11. Area, 11 acres, 
29 perches, of the reservations 10, H, 12. 

Res. 13 — Hospital Square. — Between B and G sts. south, 
and 19th and the Anacostia east. Area, 77 acres, 26 perches. 
On it are the jail, the almshouse, and powder magazines. 

Res. 14 — The Navy- Yard. — Area, 12 acres, 3roods, 15 perches. 

Res. 15 and 16 — Eastern Market-House Squares. — Near the 
Navy-yard, granted for market-house purposes. Area of the two 
reservations, 2 acres, 1 rood, 4 perches. 

Res. 17 — Town-House Square. — This is southeastof the Cap- 
itol, 3d st. , and South Capitol st. , where New Jersey, North Car- 
olina, South Carolina, and Virginia avenues intersect, making an 
irregular plat with an area of 21 acres, 1 rood, 29 perches. The old 



45 

Ducldiiigton Manor-Hous^T the residence of the Carroll family, 
fronts ui)on it. The Carroll spring, famous during the war 
times, is located here. 

SQUARES, Etc. 

There are a number of open squares in Washington City, lie- 
sides those already alluded to as reservations ; most of them are 
formed by the diverging lines of avenues intersecting other ave- 
nues and streets ; they are of various sizes. 

Lying West of the Capitol. 

Scott Square is formed by the intersection of Vermont ave- 
nue, lf>th, I and K sts. n. w,; area, 1 acre 2 roods. The eques- 
trian statue of Gen. McPherson is erected here. The cost of the 
pedestal on which it stands was $15,000. 

Fakragut Square is at the intersection of Connecticut avenue, 
17th, I and K sts. n. w. ; area, the same as Scott Square. In 
this square is to be placed, when completed, the colossal statue 
of- Admiral Farragut, for which $20,000 was voted by Congress, 
April 16, 1872, Miss Keam received the order to make this 
statue. 

Massachusetts and Khode Island avenues intersect N st. and 
16th st. about a quarter of a mile immediately north of the Pres- 
ident's House, forming an open space of about an acre in extent. 
This square has no name, but is noted for the colossal equestrian 
bronze statue of Gen. Scott, which occupies its centre. The 
statue was designed by H. K. Brown, of New York, and cast by 
Robert Wood & Co., of Philadelphia. It weighs 12,000 lbs.; 
cost $20,000; weight of granite pedestal, over 320 tons. The 
cost of the pedestal was $53,000. 

Franklin Square is bounded by 13th and 14th sts. west and 
by I and K sts. north. Government purchased this i>lat in 1829, 



46 

because of its containing a fine spring, from which the President's 
House and Executive offices were supplied with water by pipes 
as early as 1832. The supply for the White House is still from 
this source. 

Rawlins Square, on New York avenue, is southwest of the 
President's House, between 18th and l ( Jth sts. n. w. Here is a 
bronze statue of Gen. John A. Rawlins, adjutant-general and 
chief- of -staff to Gen. Grant, who died Secretary of War. It cost 
$10,000. Designed by J. Bailey ; cast by R. Wood & Co. , Phila- 
delphia. 

Mount Vernon Place, at the intersection of K and 8th sts. n. 
w. with Massachusetts and New York avenues. A beautiful 
fountain occupies the centre. Until 1871 the Northern Market 
occupied this locality. 

Fourteenth-street Circle, at the intersection of Massachu- 
setts and Vermont avenues and 14th and M. sts. n. w., is beau- 
tifully laid out, and in the centre is a rustic fountain. 

Thirteenth-street Circle is at the intersection of Vermont 
and Rhode Island avenues and P and 13th sts. n. w. 

The Washington Circle is at the intersection of Pennsylvania 
and New Hampshire avenues and K and 23d sts. n. w. , near George- 
town. Here is the equestrian bronze statue of Gen. Washing- 
ton, by Clark Mills ; cost $ 50,000. Cast out of captured guns 
donated by Congress. 

P-street Circle is at the intersection of Connecticut, Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire avenues, at 19th and P sts. n.w. 
Near this is the house of the British Minister. 

Lying East of the Capitol. 
Stanton Place, still unimproved, is at the intersection of 
Maryland and Massachusetts avenues at 5th st. n.e., and embraces 
an area of 3 acres, 1 rood. * 



47 

Lincoln Square is 01*6 mile directly east of the Capitol. 
Massachusetts. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky ave- 
nues here intersect between 11th and 18th sts. Originally it 
was intended to erect an Historic Column on this spot, which 
was also to serve as a Mile or Itinerary Column, from which all 
geographical distances in the United States were to be measured. 
Instead, however, is placed here the bronze group of Emanci- 
pation, representing President Lincoln breaking the fetters of 
the slave, erected by the freedmen. Cost $17,000 ; inaugurated 
April 14, 1870 ; designed by Thomas Bell ; cast at Munich by 
Von Miiller, Jr. 

THE AVENUES. 

The avenues constitute a feature in the plan of Washington 
City calculated to confuse a stranger and to cause him at first to 
wonder much at their existence. 

An early authority says :* " The positions for the different edi- 
fices, and for the several squares and areas, as laid down by the 
'Geographer General,' Andrew Ellicott, [the contemporary and 
successor of Major L'Enfant,] were first determined on the most 
advantageous ground, commanding the most extensive prospects, 
and the better susceptible of such improvements as either use or 
ornament may require. Line* of direct communication /o/ve been 
deviled to connect tJie most distant objects with tin principal by a 
direct communication with the main, and preserving through the 
whole a reciprocity of sight and the most favorable ground for 
convenience and prospect." 

L'Enfant, the originator of the idea, had, without doubt, the 
approaches to the palace of Versailles in his thoughts when he 

"Jonathan Elliott in "Historical Sketches of the Ten Miles Square," pp. 

98, 99. 



48 

conceived this feature iu his plan of the Federal City, as in many 
respects they are almost a reproduction of the lines of those 
renowned allees. 

The avenues are named after twenty-one of the States. To 
the old original Thirteen are added the names of Vermont, ad- 
mitted 1791; Kentucky, 1792; Tennessee, 1796; Ohio, 1802; 
Louisiana, 1812 ; Indiana, 1816 ; Maine, 1820, and Missouri, 
1821. Of course the avenues named after the later States were 
not contemplated in the original draft, and their introduction 
has not been, in the opinion of several recent writers, any im- 
provement. 

To attempt to describe the course of the various avenues would 
bewilder rather than instruct the reader. A reference to a map 
of Washington can alone enable the visitor to obtain any intelli- 
gent idea of the lines of their various directions. It might be 
well, however, to contradict a general error, often ignorantly 
asserted, that the avenues all radiate from the Capitol or the 
President's House. Although many of them diverge from these 
prominent buildings, quite a number of avenues do not approach 
either of them. 

In 1871 Executive Avenue was devised. It encloses a portion 
of the grounds attached to the President's House, extending 
from 15| to 16| sts., and forms a semicircle south of the man- 
sion ; a broad single road starting from this centre, due south, 
enters the Drive opposite the Monument Grounds. 

The following Tables, politely furnished by a gentleman con- 
nected with the office of the Commissioners of the District, will 
give very desirable information relative to the streets and the 
avenues : 




'• ■^■'■■■ ■' "• ' 



Executive Mansion, North Front. 





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50 
Table Showing the Course and Width of the Avenues. 

Avenues. Width. Course. 

Delaware *6o ft. N. 15 44' E. 

New Jersey •'• 160 " N. 15 44' W. 

Maryland, east of Capitol 160 " N. 62 25' E. 

Maryland, west of Capitol 160 " N. 70 22'o 9 " E. 

North Carolina , 160 " N. 62 30' E. 

South Carolina , 160 " N. 71 13' 54" E. 

Georgia 160 " N. 62 30' E. 

Virginia, from Mall to Eastern Branch 160 " S. 70 j8' 05" E. 

Virginia, from Rock Creek to Potomac 120 " S. 55 20' E. 

Pennsylvania, from President's House to U. S. 

Capitol 160 " S. 70 33' 30" E. 

Pennsylvania, west from President's House to 

Rock Creek 130 " S. 66° E. 

Pennsylvania, from Capitol to Eastern Branch 160 " S. 62 27' E. 

Kentucky 120 " S. 33 E. 

Tennessee 120 " N. 32 25' E. 

New York, east of President's House 130 " N. 66° 09' E. 

New York, west of President's House 160 " N. 70 27' E. 

Vermont 130 " N. 24 31' 30" E. 

Connecticut 130 " N. 24°3i / 3o"W. 

Rhode Island 130 " N. 66° E. 

New Hampshire 120 " N. 36 09' 14" E. 

Massachusetts, west of New Jersey avenue 160 " S. 66° 03' E. 

Massachusetts, east of New Jersey avenue 160 " S. 62 26' 08" E. 

Ohio 160 " S. 70 iS' E. 

Louisiana 160 " S. 70 21' 36" W. 

Indiana 160 " S. 70 23' 30" E. 

Missouri 85 " S. 70 33' 30" E. 

Maine 85 " N. 7o°22'c9"E. 



As a general rule, until within a few years the Public Buildings 
were accessible daily to visitors from 9 A. M. to 3 P. M. The 
increase of service demanded in the various Departments has 
caused some change in this arrangement, and the following regu- 



51 

lations, subject perhaps-' to slight temporary changes dependent 
upon an increase of work in a particular Bureau or Department, 
are now observed. A knowledge of them will enable a stranger 
who is pressed for time to plan his round of visits with greater 
satisfaction to himself : 

The Capitol is open during daytime every day excepting Sun- 
day, and at night time when Congress has a night session. The 
Congressional Library from '.» A. M. to 4 P. M., and the Botan- 
ical Gardens every week day. 

The President's Hodse. — The East-Boom is open every week 
day from 10 A. M. to 3 P. M. 

We will mention the other more important places in alphabet- 
ical order : 

Agricultural Building is open from i) A. M. to 3 P.M.; 
also, the Army Medical Museum. Arlington Cemetery is open 
every day, Sunday included. 

Corcoran Art-Gallery, 17th st. and Pennsylvania avenue 
u. w., is open daily from 10 A. M. to 4 P. M. Mondays. Wedn< s- 
days. and Fridays are pay days. The three other days, admissi m 
is free. 

Insane Asylum is open on Wednesdays from 2 to <; P. M. 

Interior Department, including the Model-Boom, Patent 
Office, is open daily from '.) A. M. to 4 P. M. The Department 
of Justice is also open until 4 P. M. 

Navy Department is open daily from !> A. M. to 4 P. M. The 
Navy Yard is open daily from !> A. M. to sunset. 

Smithsonian Institution, open daily from !> A. M. to 4 P. M. 

Soldiers' Home is open daily from !» to dirk. Carriages ad- 
mitted to the grounds excepting on Sundays. 

State Department, open daily, except on Thursdays, (appro- 
priated to foreign diplomats,) from 10 A. M. to 1 P. M. 

Treasury Department is open from '.) A. M. to 2 V. M. 

War Department is open from ') A. M. to 3 P. M. 



52 
PRESIDENT'S HOUSE. 

The President's House is about a mile and a half from the 
Capitol, in a direction west by north. It stands between loth 
and 17th sts. n. w., on a high plateau, where Pennsylvania and 
New York avenues intersect, and fronting it is Lafayette Square. 
It is built of a yellowish freestone painted white, and is popu- 
larly known as The White House. 

It is two stories high, 170 feet long, and 86 feet wide, with a 
portico on the north, supported by eight pillars, under which 
carriages can drive. The south front has a semicircular colon- 
nade of six columns in the centre. A conservatory adjoins the 
house on the west. 

The building is said to have been modelled after the palace of 
the Duke of Leinster, in Dublin. The architect was James 
Hoban, an Irishman, who came to Washington from Charleston, 
South Carolina. 

First Floor. 

The north door opens into a vestibule 40 by 50 feet, divided 
by a sash screen ; within the screen are portraits of Adams. Van 
Buren, Tyler, Polk. Fillmore, and Pierce. 

The East-Room, occupying the eastern side of the house, is 80 
by 40 feet, and 22 feet high. The ceiling is divided into three 
panels, beautifully decorated. The chandeliers, mirrors, and 
furniture are of the most elegant description. It is, as a rule, 
accessible to the public. Here is Stewart's Washington and Jef- 
ferson, with Cogswell's Lincoln. 

Adjoining the East-Room, west, is the Green-Room, facing the 
south, so called from the dominant color of its furniture, all of 
which is exceedingly beautiful ; 30 by 20 feet. 

Then succeeds the Blue-Room. This is of oval shape, with 
windows looking southward ; and, as its name indicates, is fur- 



53 

**■ 

nished in blue and gold ; 40 by 30 feet. This is the room in 
which, at levees, the President receives his guests. 

The room next, still facing south, which brings you gradually 
towards the western side of the house, is the Red-Room. This 
room is used more commonly by the presidential family, and 
has somewhat of a home look about it ; 30 by 20 feet. 

Then, in the southwest portion of the house, is the State 
Dixing-Room. 40 by 30 feet. This is fitted up in admirable 
style, and is only used on state occasions. The private dining- 
room is north of the state dining-room. 

Second Floor. 
The east part is occupied by the Executive offices, ante-rooms, 
and the President's Office. In this last the Cabinet meets. It 
is spacious, and commands a beautiful view looking south. Ad- 
joining it is the library. The rooms occupied by the family are 
in the south and western portions of the house, and are mainly 
used as bed-chambers. 

Basement Floor. 
This contains the kitchens, servants' quarters, store-rooms, 
and depositories for coal, etc. 

History. 
The corner-stone of the President's House was laid October L3, 
L792; architect, James Hoban. It was first occupied in L800, 
by President John Adams, but was then in an unfinished condi- 
tion. The building cost, up to L814, *:;:•>.".. 2<)7. August 24, of 
that year, the President's House was burned by the British. It 
was authorized to be rebuilt in 1815. Mr. Hoban was again 
charged with its erection, according to the original plan, and its 
re-erection cost $301,496.25. It was first again occupied by 
President Monroe. 



54 

The Stables and Conservatory attached to the President's 
House cost $72,070.82. 

p. Lafayette Square. 

This beautiful square is in front (north) of the White House, 
and includes seven acres. Two bronze vases, the copy of an 
antique, seven feet high, and weighing each 1,300 lbs., ornament 
the grounds. 

The Equestrian Statue of Gen. Andrew Jackson, designed 
and cast by Clark Mills, is also here. The Jackson Monument 
Association subscribed $12,000, and Congress granted captured 
guns for the casting of this statue ; afterwards other appropria- 
tions were made, including a sum of $20,000, the whole nett- 
ing about $50,000. Its weight is 15 tons. 

STATE DEPARTMENT. 

This magnificent structure, now being erected, was designed 
by A. B. Mullett, late Supervising Architect of the Treasury. It 
is intended to accommodate the State, War, and Navy Depart- 
ments. The south end of the building only is completed, and 
is, since 1875, occupied by the State Department. It is immedi- 
ately west of the President's House. 

It is 312 feet from east to west, including projections, etc., 
and will be 507 feet from north to south. The style is the 
Italian renaissance ; the material of which it is built is granite, 
brought from Maine and Virginia ; the roof is mansard. The 
building was begun in 1871. The expenditures to date, 1876, 
including furniture, are $4,230,002.96. 

The interior is superbly finished and furnished, and there are 
documents, etc. , deposited here of great interest. 

On the second floor are the Reception-room, the room of the 



55 

-* 

Secretary of State, and the rooms of the Assistant Secreta- 
ries and Chief Clerk. 

The Library, embracing the most complete and valuable col- 
lection of works on diplomacy in America, is in the third story, 
over tin- south entrance. 

There are extensive files in the Department of American 
newspapers from 1781. 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 

On the east side of the President's House stands the United 
States Treasury. 

It has four fronts, each facing a point of the compass. These, 
including porticos and steps, measure 582 feet by 300 feet. 
The front first built was the west front ; it is of Virginia free- 
stone, and presents an extended colonnade. Mr. Robert Mills 
was the architect of this portion of the building. The rest is of 
granite from Dix Island, Maine. 

The east, north, and south fronts correspond with each other, 
having each a central projecting portico. The architects, Walter, 
Young, Rogers, and Mullet, were all engaged on this splendid 
edifice. The cost, as stated in a recent report, is •$ 0,837, 722. 2s ; 
the usual amount stated is -f 0,000,000. 

The Treasury contains 195 rooms, to which is to be added 
those in the sub-basement, used for store-rooms, shops, and 
those attached to the heating apparatus. Besides, are the 
rooms in the attic story, used by the Bureau of Engraving and 
Printing, in which about 500 persons are employed. The ma- 
chinery is driven by a 100 horse-power engine. 

The Cash-Room is the most beautiful of any in the Treasury. 
and well worth a visit. The display of foreign marbles in this 
room is very fine, but to an American it would be more satisfac- 
tory had they been of native origin. 



56 

The Vaults are of steel and chilled iron : they are situated in 
the northeast part of the Treasury. They are about 15 by 20 
feet in size. Two of them are in the basement. 

Photograph Office. This is a small cottage-like looking build- 
ing opposite the south front of the Treasury. Here are photo- 
graphed fac similes of accounts, plans and elevations of public 
buildings, etc., etc. 

Coast Survey. 

This building is private property, although built for the spe- 
cial service of this office. It is south of the Capitol, on New- 
Jersey avenue, between B and C sts. , and is an imposing brick 
structure. 

The object of this office is " the survey of the coasts of the 
United States on tide-water." It originated in 1807, but its 
actual organization was completed in 1833. 

The standards of weights and measures are kept here, under 
the care of the Superintendent. The Coast Survey is attached 
to the Treasury Department. Its duties, however, are mainly 
discharged "by officers of the army and navy, with the assist- 
ance of scientific civilians." 

History. 

In 1814 the U. S. Treasury shared the general fate of the pub- 
lic buildings, and was burned on the invasion of the city. The 
structure again erected for its use occupied the site of the south- 
ern portion of the present edifice ; it was, however, consumed 
by fire March 31, 1833. It is said President Jackson indicated 
with his cane the site of the existing structure. In 183G it was 
commenced, and made ready to be occupied in 1841. In 1855 
the Extension was begun. The north front was the last one 
completed. It is now proposed to remove the east front and 
substitute another, in conformity with the rest of the edifice. 



57 

WAR DEPARTMENT. 

The War Department, a very plain-looking building facing 
north, is on the west side of the President's House, at the corner 
of 17th st. n.w. The intention is to remove the present struc- 
ture, and extend the magnificent new building close by, now in 
course of erection, so that within it accommodation will be af- 
forded, not only to the State Department, but to the War and 
Navy Departments. 

The Secretary's Office is on the second story, in the east 
side of the building. A collection of portraits of the Secretaries 
of War is here, as well as a number of interesting relics, manu- 
scripts, etc. 

The headquarters of the General of the Army are, since its 
return from St. Louis to Washington, again located on the first 
floor east of the main hall, in the same suite of rooms previously 
so occupied, in the north front of the building. 

For many years the room accommodation of the Department 
has not been sufficient for its need, and outside quarters have 
been appropriated. 

The Signal Office is on the north side of G street, west of the 
War Department. Entrance, No. 171i>. 

The Flag-room is at No. 616 17th st., opposite the Depart- 
ment. 

The Quartermaster-General's Office is at the corner of 
15th st. and Pennsylvania avenue, diagonally opposite the front 
of the Treasury. That of the Surgeon-General of the Akmv 
is on Pennsylvania avenue, opposite the north front of the Treas- 
ury. 

The Army Medical Museum 
is on 10th st. n. w., midway between E and P sts. n. \v. To the 
medical student it is interesting beyond expression. The build- 



58 

ing was once Ford's Theatre, in which President Lincoln was 
assassinated. Its purchase cost $88,000. 

Winder's Building, 
corner of 1 7th and F sts. n. w. , was originally built for a hotel, 
but was purchased and fitted up for the use of Government at an 
expense of $246,054.78. It is variously occupied. 

The Chief-Engineer of the Army occupies the first floor. 
The Battle-Record Room is No. 2, and No. 13 is a File-Room 
for papers of the Adjutant-General's Office. 

The Judge-Advocate General of the Army occupies the 
front portion of the second story. 

The Ordnance Office also is on the second floor, connected 
with which is an exceedingly interesting Museum. 

The rooms above are used by the Second Auditor of the 
Treasury. 

The Arsenal 

is at the foot of 4^ st. s. w., and is accessible by horse rail-cars. 
The grounds are beautifully laid out, and many objects of inter- 
est are here open for inspection. As early as 1808 it was a mili- 
tary station, and in 1814 it was one of the places destroyed by 
the British. In 1815, under Col. George Bomford, it was re- 
built. The Chief of Ordnance resides here. (See Reservation 
No. 5.) 

SOLDIERS' HOME. 

This institution is, in object, somewhat similar to that of the 
Hotel des Invalides at Paris. To Gen. Winfield Scott is the mili- 
tary service indebted, in great part, for the suggestion and en- 
dowment of the Soldiers' Home. 

March 3, 1851, not long after the termination of the Mex- 
ican war, Congress donated $118,711), the unused balance in the 
Treasury of the sum levied by Gen. Scott on the City of Mexico, 



59 

to aid iu the establishment of the Home. To this sum is add< d 
forfeitures, stoppages, and fines, and a tax of 12 cts. a month 
(formerly 25 cts.) on each private soldier. 

The main building is of marble, 200 ft. front. There are also 
several beautiful marble cottages, the residences of the officers, 
and the former Puggs' homestead, clustered near it. 

In summer time Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln re- 
sided here. A new hospital also has recently been erected within 
the grounds. 

There is here, on the brow of the hill, a bronze statue of G< it. 
Scott, 10 ft. high, facing the city, by Launt Thompson, erected 
by the Home in 1874 ; cost $18,000. 

The grounds embrace r>00 acres, and are most beautifully laid 
out. The drive within the enclosure extends 7 miles. 

Disabled private soldiers of the regular army are entitled to the 
benefits of the Home ; during their stay their pensions are 
stopped. 

The Home is three miles north of the Capitol. The tower of 
the main building affords the most beautiful of views, the Capi- 
tol being a main feature in the landscape. On a clear day the 
top of Sugar-Loaf mountain can be discerned in the far distance. 

Horse-cars connect with, and convey passengers from, the 
terminus of the Seventh-street route to within a short distance 
of the Home. 

National Military Cemetery. 

This burial-place adjoins the Soldiers' Home ; established in 
1861. It is a sad memorial of the war ; 5,153 Union and l'71 
Confederate dead are interred here. The names of 279 of them 
are unknown. 

NAVY DEPARTMENT. 
Immediately south of the War Department is a building of the 



60 

same general plain description, which is the United States 
Navy Department. The original building faced south, bu1 a 
needed wing gives it now the appearance of its main front facing 

West. 

The Secretary's Office is on the second floor, at the south 
end of the corridor. 

The Admiral's Office is at his residence, 1710 H street n. w. 

The Hydrographic Office (established in L866, is a branch of 
the Bureau of Navigation) occupies the "Octagon," a house 
built by the Tayloe family, and considered for many years one 
of the most elegant of the private residences in Washington city. 
It is at the n. e. corner of 18th street and New York avenue n. w. 

The Nautical Almanac Office, also a branch of the Bureau 
of Navigation, is on Twenty-second street n. w., No. 807. 

The service of the Naval Department is divided into eight 
Bureaus, viz: Ordnance, Equipment and Recruiting, Yards and 
Docks, Navigation, Medicine and Surgery, Provisions and Cloth- 
ing, Steam Engineering, and Construction and Repair. 

National Observatory. 

On a hill !)(> feet high, southwest from the President's House, 
on the Potomac river, is situated the National Observatory, near 
the s. w. terminus of New York avenue 

This hill, long ago, was known as Peter'8 I fill, having belonged 
to Mr. Robert Peter, one of the original proprietors. It was 
also called Oamp Hill, because th i forces of Gen. Braddock en- 
camped here previous to starting on the ill-fated expedition of 
1 ?:».", ; and in L814 the troops mustered to defend Washington 

were stationed here, It was embraced within the proposed town 
of Eamburg or Funkstown, laid out and lots therein sold years 
before the Federal city was devised, and the titles to which be- 
came sources of annoyance to the early commissioners. 



61 

Gen. Washington was desirous of having a national university 
established here. [See Reservation No. 4.] 

The Observatory is under the direction of the Navy Depart- 
ment, and belongs to the Bureau of Navigation. It was estab- 
lished in 1842. The central building was completed in 1844. 
Its present rank is among the foremost in the world. There is 
here, mounted in 1873, the most powerful telescope ever made, 
the "Great Equatorial ;" cost $47,000. It weighs, including its 
base, six tons. The cost of the iron dome erected to cover it 
was $14,000. 

The Naval Hospital 
is between 9th and loth sts., on Pennsylvania avenue east ; it is 
attached to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy De- 
partment, and is for the benefit of the officers and men of the 
Navy and the Marine Corps. Cost $1 16,935.33. 

Navy-Yard. 

At the southern terminus of 8th st. east is the entrance to the 
Washington Navy-Yard. It lies along the banks of the An a- 
oostia. 

Dec. 30, 17!>i). Hon. Benj. Stoddard, Secretary of the Navy, 
ordered the grounds to be laid out The yard was formally es- 
tablished by act of March, 1804. The grounds occupy about 27 
acres, 

It contains a large number of trophies connected with our 
naval encounters, and is well worth a visit. 

The Museum, open from '.) A. M. to 4 P. M., is full of objects 
of interest. There is here a Spanish gun which Cortez used in 
his conquest of Mexico, obtained during our Mexican war, and a 
small mortar captured from Lord Cornwallis, etc., etc. 

The Wasp, the Argue, the Viper, the shark and Grampus, 
the sloop 8t Louis, 24 guns, and frigates Columbia, Essex, Po- 



62 

iomac, and Brandywine, of 44 guns each, and the Columbus,, of 
74 guns, were built here. Recently the yard has been more 
prominent for its manufacture of naval supplies than for naval 
construction. Its workshops are extensive. 

The Marine Barracks 
are of brick, and occupy the whole of square 927, a short distance 
north of the entrance to the Navy-Yard, on 8th st. , between G and 
I sts. s.e. 

The barracks were burnt in 1814 by the British, but were im- 
mediately rebuilt. The architect was Mr. Latrobe. Cost $335,- 
636.81. 

The Marine Corps, created in 1798, is an adjunct to the Navy. 
The headquarters are in Washington. The force consists of a 
Commandant holding the rank of brigadier-general, 1 colonel, 2 
lieutenant-colonels, 4 majors, 20 captains, with a larger number 
of lieutenants, and about 2, 500 men. 

POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 

This building occupies the whole square between 7th and 8th 
and E and F sts. n. w., and is opposite the Patent Office. It 
is of white marble, from New York and Maryland quarries, 
and is of a modified Corinthian order of architecture. It 
is said to be the best representation of the Italian palatial in 
America, and recalls remembrance of a Florentine palace. It 
measures 300 feet north and south, and 204 feet east and west 
It cost, up to 1876, $1,855,889.59. 

In the centre of the front facing 8th st., over the carriage gate- 
way, is an interesting specimen of carving, representing "the 
railroad and the telegraph." 

The City Post-Office is in the centre of the north front. 

The Postmaster-General's Office is in the story above the 
basement, on the south side. 



03 

The Dead-Letter Office is on the north side. To enter this 
requires a pass, which is easily obtained from the Chief Clerk. 

History. 

The site of the south side of the Post-Office Department was, 
early in the history of Washington city, occupied by a brick 
building, projected by Samuel Blodgett, an unsuccessful specu- 
lator, for a hotel. It was to be 120 ft. long, 50 ft. wide, and 
three stories high. James Hoban was architect. The corner- 
stone was laid in 171>3, and the plan approved by the commis- 
sioners. 

It "was put up," as Watterson states, "out of the proceeds of 
a lottery authorized to be drawn, but not completed. The own- 
ers of the prize- ticket were orphan children, who, not having 
the means of completing the building, suffered it to remain in 
an unfinished and dilapidated state." It was here the first theat- 
rical entertainments were given in the national Capital. 

In 1810 it was bought by Government, and plainly finished. 

Congress, in 1814-15, after the burning of the Capitol, held 
one session here ; and in the second story the Patent Office was 
for years accommodated. The lower story was occupied by the 
General and City Post-Offices until Dec. 1."), 1836, when the build- 
ing was destroyed by fire. Private buildings were then rented 
for the immediate need. 

In 1831) the south portion of the present building was com- 
menced by Kobert Mills. Government bought the north half of 
the square to F st, in 1842. In 18.").") the new Extension was be- 
gun. The designs were made by Thomas U. Walter, architect 
of the Capitol, and executed by Oapt., now Gen. M. C. Meigs, 
and Edward Clark, architect. 



64 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 
Patent Office. 

The Patent Office building, in which much of the work con- 
nected with the Department of the Interior is performed, covers 
two squares — from 7th to Oth sts. and from F to G sts n. w. It 
measures 410 feet from east to west, and 275 feet from north to 
south. It is Doric in architecture, and in the original plan of 
the city the ground on which it stands was reserved for the 
building of a grand National Church. 

The present structure was commenced in 1837. The south 
front — built of freestone, painted white — was the earliest built ; 
designed by Win. F. Elliot, and executed by Eobert Mills. The 
east wing was authorized in 1849, was commenced by Mr. Mills,. 
who was succeeded, in 1851, by Edward Clark, then assistant to 
the architect of the Capitol, by whom the building was com- 
pleted in 1864. The new portions are of Maryland marble on 
the street extensions and granite on the interior quadrangle. 
The building contains about li>l rooms, and cost $2,700,000. 

Four halls on the second floor compass the whole extent of the 
vast building, and have on exhibition the model of every patent 
issued since 1836. 

There are also here many articles which belonged to Gen. 
Washington possessing historical interest, and here is to be seen 
the original Declaration of Independence. 

In December, 1836, a fire consumed the building then occupied 
by the Patent Office, situated where the G/eneral Post Office now 
stands. The models accumulated during 46 years were all de- 
stroyed. The patents to that date numbered 10,301. From 
July 4, 1836. to July 4, 1876, there were issued 170,638 patents. 

In this building is the office of the Secretary of the Interior, 
who has charge of affairs ' ' connected with patents, public lands, 







Ill fit 



ti5 

pensions, Indians, census, education, and beneficiary asylums in 
the District ; and he has also supervisory control over the archi- 
tect of the Capitol." The immense structure is not large enough 
to accommodate all the offices connected with the Department, 
and several rented buildings have necessarily been brought into 
its service. 

The Bureau of Education is located at the corner of G and 
Sth sts. n. w., opposite the north front of the Patent Office. 
The Department of Education was created March 2, 1st; 7. Its 
design is to collect statistics and facts showing the condition 
and progress of education in the States and Territories. The 
following year it was reduced to a bureau, called the " Office of 
Education."' 

Survey of the Territories.— Office on 7th st., between E and 
F sts. n. w. Here information can be obtained relative to the 
surveys in the far West, and photographs seen illustrative of the 
work of the various scientific exploring expeditions of the United 
States. 

The Pension Bureau is on Louisiana avenue, near 7th st. n.w. 

Government Hospital for the Insane. 
On the high ground on the south side of the Anacostia is this 
institution. In the distance it looks like a large feudal castle. 
There is attached to it an estate of 41 ( .) acres, a portion of which 
is cultivated by the patients. Miss Dix, the well-known philan- 
thropist, took an active part in urging the establishment of this 
great Government benevolence. Nearly one thousand persons. 
attendants and patients, are accommodated within its walls. It 
is also known as the St. Elizabeth Hospitd. The Institution 
was opened in L855. It is 7.">0 feet long. Cost of building, etc., 
$988,840.35; support, etc., of insane paupers, as reported in 
1875, ($1,532,84:6.35. 



66 

An iron bridge across the Anacostia, near the Navy Yard, 
affords access to the Insane Hospital. Its reported cost is 
$ 99,487. 00. 

Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb 
is situated on "Kendall Green," lying in a northeasterly direc- 
tion from the Capitol ; entrance, north .end of 7th st. east, 
also the east terminus of M st. north. Amos Kendall, Postmas- 
ter-General in Gen. Jackson's Cabinet, donated, late in life, some 
acres and a small building, first occupied by the institution, which 
was incorporated in 1857, and since mainly supported by Con- 
gress. In 186-1 a collegiate department was created. It has 
since rapidly increased in efficiency. In 1870, the Board pur- 
chased an additional 82 acres of Kendall Green property, for 
$85,000, payable in four years. The property is valued at 
$350,000. 

Columbia Hospital for Women, and Lying-in Asylum, 
corner of L and 25th sts. n. w. Supported mainly by Govern- 
ment. Appropriations to present time, (1870,) $1 73,195. 16. A 
dispensary is open here every day. 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

Opposite the United States Treasury is a splendid building, 
originally erected for the Freedman's Bank. Its upper stories 
are occupied by this "Department ; entrance at west end. 

The principal object of interest here is the gallery of portraits 
of the Attorneys-General of the United States. 

This Department was created June, 1870. The head is the 
United States Attorney-General ; all Government prosecutions 
are conducted by it. Subordinate to it are the officers of the 
District and Circuit Courts of the United States ; the Keform 
School ; Metropolitan Police and jail of the District of Columbia, 
and the various law officers of the national Departments. 



67 

The Court-House, (formerly the City Hall, ) 
is situated opposite the northern terminus of 44 street, on Judiciary 
Square, which comprises about 20 acres. The courts of the 
District are held, excepting that of the Police Court, in the Court- 
House. 

The structure is of freestone, painted white. It was designed 
by George Hadfield, an Englishman, one of the architects of the 
Capitol. Only about one-half of the building, as designed by 
him, has been erected. It was commenced in 1820 ; whole front- 
age, 250 feet. 

In front of the building, on a marble column, is a statue of 
President Lincoln, by Lot Flannery, of Washington city, 
erected by contributions of citizens. (See Reservation No. i>.) 

The Police Court is located on C at., between -14 and 6th sts. 
n. w. 

The Reform School 

is situated on Lincoln's Hill, (a fort of that name occupying 
the site during the war of the rebellion,) on the Washington 
and Baltimore turnpike, about two miles from the east boundary 
of the city. It is solely for boys, and is surrounded by a farm 
of ir>0 acres. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Between the Smithsonian Institution and the Washington 
Monument grounds is situated the Agricultural Department, 
between 12th and 14th sts. s. w. It is of brick, with brown- 
stone trimmings; 170 feet long, (51 feet deep: designed by 
Adolph Cluss, and has a Mansard roof: finished in 1868. It 
bears a resemblance to what the Palace of Versailles was when 
only a hunting chateau, before Louis XIV expended upon it the 
revenues of a kingdom. 



68 

There are extensive structures built for experimental garden- 
ing, known as Plant-Houses, designed by Mr. Saunders, "Super- 
intendent of Gax*dens," etc. The main building is 820 feet long 
and 30 feet wide, with a projecting centre wing 150 feet long. 

Besides the gardens, etc., there is here an Agricultural Museum 
of great interest. The buildings and grounds cost, to 1875, 
$541,243.25. 

The Department was established May ir>, 1862. Before occu- 
pying the present building, it had rooms in the basement of the 
Patent Office, and was, as a Bureau, under the supervision of the 
Secretary of the Interior. 

THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

is at the corner of North Capitol and H sts. ; length, 300 feet on 
H st. and 175 feet on North Capitol st.; it is 4 stories high, and 
cost (the building) $84,915.74. It is said to be at present the 
largest printing establishment in the world. 

In 1852, a change was made in the then contract system of 
public printing and binding, and the office created of Superin- 
tendent of Public Printing. 

In 1860, Congress bought of Cornelius Wendell for .$135,000 
his printing office, which became the nucleus of the present 
mammoth establishment. In 1807, the office of "Superinten- 
dent," etc., was abolished, and the Senate authorized to elect a 
practical printer to take charge of the Government work. 

Washington Asylum, etc. 
This institution is an asylum for the poor, and a workhouse 
for those convicted of minor crimes, except theft, in the police 
courts. It is situated on Hospital Square, or Reservation 13, 
devoted to that and kindred purposes, being the extreme eastern 
portion of the city. The first building was put up in 1815; 
there are now accommodations for ISO persons. 



69 

North of it is the uew District Jail, four stories high, : J »1() by 
193 feet, designed by A. B. Mullett. Cost $343,556.77: Begun 
in 1872; made ready for occupation in ix7r>. The Army and 
Navy Magazines are in near neighborhood, and south of them 
is the beautiful 

Congressional Cemetery. 

This Cemetery is attached to Christ Church, Episcopal, (Wash- 
ington parish.) Navy- Yard. (See Churches.) 

The Cemetery now embraces 30 acres. It was laid out in ISO". 
with about 10 acres. It is called Congressional because there 
are sites allotted here for the interment of members of Congress 
who die in office, and even if not buried here, a monument is 
erected to the memory of such. There are rows of tombs, many 
of which are empty. It is not only beautiful as a cemetery, but 
is interesting on account of the many distinguished dead who 
lie here. Congress has made donations to this Cemetery of 
$28,670.59. 

Smithsonian Institution. 

The Smithsonian Institution is built of red-freestone, and has 
numerous towers, remiuding one of the palace of the old Scotch 
kings, Holyrood. The extreme length of the building, from 
east to west, is +47 feet : the breadth of the centre, including 
carriage-porch, is 1(>0 feet. It was designed by James Renwick. 
Jr., of New York. The style is Norman, in use about the end 
of the 12th century; corner-stone laid 1S47: completed 1856; 
cost $450,000. 

The grounds, extending from 7th to li'th streets, were laid out 
by Andrew Jackson Downing, a landscape gardener of greal 
reputation, who died while prosecuting this work. There i 1 - a 
beautiful vase to his memory erected here. 

This Institution is the bequest of an English gentleman, 



70 

James Smithsoa, an illegitimate son of a Duke of Northumber- 
land. Mr. Smithson was born in London, and graduated, taking 
an honorary degree, at Oxford in 1780. He was a skilful chemist, 
mineralogist, and geologist, and was the author of valuable 
treatises on these various subjects. The bequest was " to found 
at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, 
an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
among men.''' The original bequest was $515,169. In 1836 
Congress accepted it, and it was obtained through Hon. Richard 
Rush, of Pennsylvania, designated a commissioner for the pur- 
pose. The accumulated interest, etc. , was sufficient to pay for 
the erection of the building. 

The National Museum deposited here includes the collections 
of all the exploring expeditions of the United States, besides all 
other sorts of curiosities, and would require weeks to examine 
carefully. 

The Institution publishes and distributes original works on 
General and Special Science, and is engaged in extensive Meteoro- 
logical Investigations. The Library, once centered here, has been 
removed to the Capitol into a hall of the Library of Congress. 

Washington Monument. 

This, in 187(J, is an incomplete white marble obelisk, situated 
on a bluff on the Potomac river, near the northwest terminus of 
Virginia avenue. It is the spot where Gen. Washington indi- 
cated his choice for the erection of the statue which the Conti- 
nental Congress had voted in honor of his services. (See Reserva- 
tion No. 3.) 

In 1835 the Washington Monument Association was formed. 
Chief Justice Marshall was its first president. Its object was to 
erect a monument to the memory of our great first President. 
The accepted design was the idea of Robert Mills : a shaft rising 



71 

from a rotunda to the height of 600 feet — designed to be the 
highest structure evtr reared by man. excepting the Tower of 
Babel. 

The corner-stone was laid July 4, 1848. Ex-President John 
Quincy Adams was to have delivered the address, but his death 
occurring a few months previous, Bobert C. Winthrop, of Massa- 
chusetts, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was selected 
to perform that duty. The amount collected was $230,000. 

The funds were exhausted and work suspended before the late 
civil war culminated : and, although efforts have been again and 
again made to resume its construction, they have, thus far. been 
unsuccessful. 

It is now proposed that the shaft shall reach only 485 feet, 171 
of which are already completed. 9 

In the lapidarium, i. e., a collection of ornamental blocks of 
marble, etc., presented by nations, States, societies of different 
kinds, etc., are 83 memorial stones, with various inscriptions and 
designs chiselled upon them, intended to be placed in the inte- 
rior of the monument, arranged for inspection within a building 
on the premises. Besides, +0 memorial stones are already in- 
serted within the structure. Visitors are admitted, and an ex- 
amination of them will repay the traveller. 

It is with pleasure we record that Congress, by joint resolution, 
has. in lS7<i. resolved to provide funds to complete the monu- 
ment. 

Corcoran Gallery of Art. 

At the corner of 17th street and Pennsylvania avenue, opposite 
the War Department, is the Corcoran Gallery of Art. It is in the 
renaissance style, 104 feet by 121! feet, of brick, with trimmings 
of Belleville freestone. The building is the gift of Mr. W. W. 
Corcoran, a retired wealthy banker and philanthropist of Wash- 



72 

ington, to the United States. With it was also given his own 
private art collection, and an endowment fund of $900,000, the 
interest on which is to be expended to increase the value of the 
collection. Facilities for copying the works of the Gallery are 
cordially extended to aitists and students. An admirable Cata- 
logue has been published of this art collection, which of itself is 
a valuable compendium of art information, compiled by the 
curator, Mr. Wm. Macleod. 

It is open daily, but on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 
there is a charge of 25 cents entrance ; on Tuesdays, Thursdays, 
and Saturdays the admission is free. The gallery of sculpture 
and bronzes is exceedingly fine, and very valuable. 

Masonic Temple 

is at the corner of 9th and F sts. n. w., opposite the Patent 
Office. Corner-stone laid 1808. Cost $200,000. Built of granite 
and Connecticut and Nova Scotia freestone. 

The Order was early planted in the Federal City. Prior to 
1810 two Lodges assembled in a building near the river. 

Odd-Fellows' Hall 
is on 7th st., between D and E sts. n. w. It was dedicated in 
1840; remodelled in 1873. The first Lodge of the Order was 
established in the District in 1827 ; the Grand Lodge followed in 
1828. 

Providence Hospital. 
This hospital was founded in 1802 by the Sisters of Charity. 
Government has appropriated, as stated in a recent report, 1870, 
principally towards the erection of this building, through the 
exertions of Thaddeus Stevens, $00,000; and there is still con- 
tinued an annual appropriation for 75 non-resident pauper pa- 
tients. Its accommodations for pay patients are excellent ; and 




Post-Office Depa 



73 

it has attached to it a library, reading-room, and chapel. It is 
situated at the corner of D and 2d sts. s. e. 
Armory. 

In 1855, $30,000 was appropriated for the erection of a build- 
ing for the storing and care of the ordnance, etc , of the United 
States, required for the use of volunteers and militia of the Dis- 
trict. The building erected for this purpose stands on the pub- 
lic reservation (the Mall) near 6th st 

Early in the breaking out of the war it was used as a hospital, 
and gave name to one of the most extensive and useful of the 
army hospitals, clustered in several wooden buildings, near its 
site. 

Gonzaga College 

was founded a seminary in 1848; incorporated a university in 
1858 : is conducted by fathers of the Society of Jesus. It is on 
I st., between North Capitol and First st. n. w. 

Columbian University 

is situated on a hill a short distance from the northern terminus of 
the 14th st. horse-railroad route. The grounds embrace 40 acres : 
the estimated value of estate $400, 000. It was founded by 
the Baptists ; incorporated in 1821 : commenced in 1822. During 
the recent war it was used for hospital purposes. 

In 187?> it became a University. The President of the United 
States and the Chief -Justice of the Supreme Court are honorary 
members of the Boai'd of Trustees. 

The National Medical College, connected with the University, 
is on H st., between 13th and 14th sts. n. w.; founded in 
1824. The building, in 1864, was presented by Mr. W. W. 
Corcoran. 

The Law Department, established 1826, is on 5th st.. between 
D and E sts. n. w.. opposite Judiciary square. 



74 

Howard University 
occupies a commanding situation on a hill near the northern ter- 
minus of the 7th st. horse-railroad route. It was incorporated in 
1867, and named in compliment after Gen. Howard, then direc- 
tor of the Freedmen's Bureau. The admission, etc., of pupils is 
without regard to sex or color. The value of property is about 
$600,000. 

Freedmen's Asylum. 

This is in the near neighborhood of Howard University ; and 
in the list of expenditures of Government to 1875 is stated as 
having cost for its support $207,716.90. 

Wayland Seminary. 
In 1865 this institution was founded for the purpose of edu- 
cating colored preachers and teachers. It is situated near Colum- 
bian University. The seminary is three stories high, of brick, 
with mansard roof and tower; cost $35,000. It is one of seven 
schools supported in the South by the American Baptist Home 
Mission Society. 

BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. 

National Soldiers and Sailors Orphans' Home, G st., be- 
tween 17th and 18th sts. n. w. ; incorporated in 1866; amount 
appropriated by Government $77,381.25 ; under the charge of a 
board of .lady managers. No applicants received under six years 
old, nor kept after 16 years. 

Louise Home, on Massachusetts avenue, between 15th and 
16th sts. n. w.; built in 1871. It provides an elegant home for 
reduced gentlewomen, and is the gift of the wealthy Washing- 
tonian, Mr. W. W. Corcoran, who has called it by the name of 
his wife and daughter, ladies now dead. It cost $200,000, and 



75 

has an endowment of $250,000. It accommodates 55 persons. 

The inmates are invited by the lady directresses. Open to vis- 
itors every week day. after 12 noon. 

Washington City Orphan Asylum, corner of 14th and S Bts. 
n. w.; founded in 1815. Dolly Madison was first directress, and 
Mrs. Van Ness (Marcia Burns) second. Incorporated in 1828. 
It is under the control of benevolent Protestant ladies of the 
city. 

Children's Hospital, on E st., between 8th and 9th sts. n. \v.: 
incorporated in 1871. Its object is to provide free surgical and 
medical treatment for the poor children of the District. It is 
under the patronage of the benevolent. A free dispensary is 
connected with it. Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, from X to 
~> P. M. , are visiting days. 

St. John's Hospital, for children ; under the direction of the 
St. John Sisterhood of the Episcopal Church. The new house is 
on H. st., between 19th and 20th sts. n. w. Received an appro- 
priation from Government of $25,000. 

St. Ann's Infant Asylum ; founded L863; for children less 
than five years: under the management of the Sisters of Charity. 
A lying-in hospital is attached. Corner of K and 24th sts. n. w. 
Visiting day, Thursday, from 2 to 5 P. M. 

St Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum; founded 1855; under 
the care of the Sisters of the Holy Cross: is on II st.. between 
9th and 10th sts. n. w. 

St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum ; founded 1831 : un- 
der the care of the Sisters of Charity ; is on the s. w. corner of 
G and 10th sts. n. w. A branch, known as St. Rose's Orphan 
Home, is on (1 st.. between 20th and 21st sts. n. w. This is for 
the more adult, and the girls are taught a trade. 

The Epiphany Church Home is on H st.. between ! Itli and 
L5th sts. n. w. 



76 

The Home for the Aged is at the corner of 3d and H sts. 
n. e. It is under the charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor. 
An appropriation of $25,000 was given to the Sisters by Govern- 
ment. 

Women's Christian Association, loth and R. sts. n. w. 



HOTELS. 

Arlington, on Vermont avenue, near President's House ; ca- 
pacity, 325 guests. 

Ebbitt, corner F and 14th sts. n. w.; capacity, 350 guests. 

Gray's, corner 15th and I sts. n w.; on Europaan plan. 

Imperial, E st., (facing Penn. avenue,) between 13th and 14th 
sts. n. w. ; $3 per day. Rooms without board. Capacity, 200 
guests. 

St. James, corner of Penn. ave. and 0th st. n. w.; European 
plan. 

St. Marc, corner of Penn. ave. and 7th st. n. w.; European 
plan. 

Metropolitan, on Penn. avenue, between 6th and 7th sts. n. 
w.: $3 per day; capacity, 300 guests. 

National, on Penn. avenue, corner of Gth st. n. w.; #4 per 
day ; capacity, 500 guests. 

Riggs House, corner of 15th and G sts. n. w. 

Tremont, corner of 2d st. and Indiana ave., near Bait, and 
Ohio Depot ; $2.50 per day. 

Willard's, on Penn. avenue and 14th st. n. w.: terms, $4.50 per 
day ; capacity, 500 guests. 

Wormley's, on 15th and H sts. n. w.; $5 per day; capacity, 
150. 

These are the most notable. There are other hotels of lower 
prices, suited to all classes of persons. 



77 

PLACES OF AMUSEMENT. 

National Theatre, on E st., between 13th and 14th sts. n. w. 
It virtually fronts on Pennsylvania avenue. 

Ford's Opera House, on ilth st. n. w., south of Pennsylvania 
avenue. 

Theatre Comique, at the corner of C and 11th sts. n. w. 

Avenue Theatre, D st., between 11th and 12th sts. n. w., facing 
Pennsylvania avenue. 

Odd-Fellows' Hall, 7th st., between D and E sts. n. w. 

Odd- Fellows' Hall, Navy-yard, Eighth st. s. e. 

Masonic Hall, comer F and 9th st, n. w. 

Lincoln Hall, corner of D and 9th sts. n. w., in the Young 
Men's Christian Association Building. 

Tallmadge Hall, F st., between 9th and Kith sts. n. w. 

Willard Hall, F st., between 14th and 15th sts. n. w. 

PRINCIPAL MARKETS. 

Centre Market; 410 feet front, between 7th and 9th fits., on 
the south side of Penn. ave. n. w.: built, 1870. 

Eastern Market, on Capitol Hill, at the junction of 7th st. e. 
and North Carolina ave. ; built, 1873. 

Western Market, on K, between 20th and 21st sts. n. w. 

Northern Market, between 6th and 7th sts. and O and P sts. 
n. w.: temporarily accommodated in wooden sin ds. 

Northern Liberty Market, on 5th st., between K and L sts. n. 
w.: is of brick: 324 feet long; cost $140,000; built 1875. 

RAILROADS. 
For South, North, East, a id West. Baltimore and Potomac. 
Depot corner B and 6th sts. a. w., near Pennsylvania avenue. 



78 

For East, North, and West, Baltimore and Ohio. Depot cor- 
ner of C st. and New Jersey avenue, near the Capitol. 

HORSE-CAR ROUTES. 

Columbia Railway. From the Treasury, 15th st. and New- 
York avenue, to H st. and Boundary n. e. It intersects the Me- 
tropolitan at 9th st. and the 7th st. line at 7th st. 

Metropolitan Railway. From 17th st., south of Penn. ave.. 
near the State Department, to Senate wing of Capitol. 

The Georgetown and East Capitol Street Branch of this 
route runs from Georgetown, near the Convent, to Lincoln 
square. 

The Ninth St. Branch, from northern terminus of 9th st. 
to the Arsenal gate. 

Silver Spring Branch, from northern terminus of 7th st. 
route to the road leading to Soldiers' Home and Rock Creek 
Church. 

Washington and Georgetown Railway, Main Branch. At 
the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and 1st st. n.. w. passengers 
going to or coming from the Baltimore and Ohio depot are 
transferred without extra charge. 

Fourteenth St. Branch. From the Treasury, loth st. and 
New York avenue, to the Boundary north. Exchange tickets 
given for Pennsylvania avenue line. 

Seventh St. Branch. From the Boundary north to the river 
front. Exchange tickets given for Pennsylvania avenue line. 

Capitol, North O st. and South Washington Railroad; or, 
" The Belt," so called from the circuitous route it traverses. 
It starts on Maryland avenue, at the foot of Capitol Hill west, 
south side of the Botanical Garden, and proceeds north to O st, . 
then west to 11th st.. then turns south to E st., again west to 



79 

llth st.. then south to Ohio avenue, which it traverses s. e. to 
li'th st.. then south, crossing the Mall, to Virginia avenue, along 
which it travels' to its intersection with Maryland avenue, then 
along the line of Maryland avenue to the place from which it 
ted. 

These horse-car railroads carry passengers to nearly all the 
desirable points of interest in the city. 

Chariots. There are also lines of chariots, of excellent appoint- 
ment, going over nearly similar lines of travel. 

CHURCHES. 
1>< nominations alphabetically arranged. 

Baptist. 

First Baptist. 13th st.. between G and H sts. n. w. 

Second Church, corner of Virginia avenue and 4th st. s. e. 

E-Street Church, south side of E st.. between 6th and 7th 
sts. n. w. 

Calvarv Church, corner of II and 8th sts. n. w. 

Fifth Baptist Church, D st., near 4 J , st. s. w. 

Nobth Baptist Church, 14th st., near R st. n. w. 

Kendall Mission Chapel, corner of l.".', and 1) sts. s. w. 

Calvaky Mission Chapel, corner of 5th and P sts. n. w. 

Metbopolitan Baptist Chapel, (erected l s 7">. s. w. corner of 
A and 6th sts. n. e. 

Gay-Sikkkt Baptist, corner of Congress and Cay sts.. George- 
town. 

Baptist Colored Churches. 

SECOND Baptist. 3d st., near I st. n. w. 
Thiro Baptist, Franklin, between P and (,) sts. u. w. 
Fourth Baptist. It st . between 12th and 13th sts. n. w. 
Fifth Baptist, Vermont avenue, between Q and K sts. u. w. 
Sixth Baptist, corn* r of 6th and (J sts s . w. 



so 

Nineteenth Street, corner of L9th and 1 sts. n. w. 

Sun on. I. st , between LGth and 17ths(s. n. w. 
RbHOBOTH, 1st st , near st . s. w. 

Mt. Zion, F st., between 3d ami l. 1 . sts. s. w. 
Liberty Church, Est., oorner of L8th q, w. 
Abyssinian, Vermont avenue, oorner of K st. a. w. 
L-Street Baptist, oorner of ttfa and L sts. q, w. 

ENON, oorner o( (itlt st and South Carolina avenue s. e. 

First Baptist Church, corner of Dunbarton and Monroe sts.. 
( leorgetown, 

Christadelphian Synagogue. 
Christadelphian Synagogue, Circuit Courl Room, city Hall. 

Christian. 
Christian Church, Vermont avenue, between N and O sts, n.w, 

Congregational. 
First Congrec ltional Church, oorner of 10th and G sts. n.w. 

Episcopal. 
St. John's CHURCH, corner of Kith and II sts. n. w. 

Epiphany Church, (i st., between 1 3th and Nth sts. n. w. 

TiviNirv Church, corner of 3d and c sts. n. w. 

Church of the Ascension, corner of Massachusetts avenue 
and I 2th st. n. w. 

Christ Church, G st., between 6th and 7th s. •'. 

Grace Churoh, \ ) st., between 8th and 9th s. w. 

Churcb of the Incarnation, corner of L2tb and N sts. n. w. 

St. Mare's Church, 3d at., between A and B sts. s. e. 

St. I'iiis ('ui'Kcu, ( Ritualistic, I 23d s t. Q. w., south of Penn- 
sylvania avenue Circle. 



Church op the Holy Communion, 22d st., near E st. u. 



w. 




Smithsonian. 




Agricultural Department. 




Soldiers' Home. 




Howard University, 



81 

Church of the Holy Cross, corner of 19th and P sts. n. w. 

St. Andrew's Mission, 1418 P st. n. w. 

St. James' Parish, services in the house, No. 819 H st. n. e. 

St. Paul's Church, (Rock Creek,) near Soldiers' Home. 

Emanuel Church, Washington st., Uniontown. 

Christ Church, corner of Congress and Beall sts., George- 
town. 

St. John's Church, corner of 2d and Potomac sts., George- 
town. 

Grace Church, High st., between Bridge and Water sts., 
Georgetown. 

St. Alban's, High st extended, Georgetown. 

Episcopal, (colored.) 

St. Mary's Chapel, 2:kl st., between H and I sts. 

Friends' Meeting Houses. 

Meeting House, (Hicksite,) I st., between 18th and 19th sts. 

n. w., north side. 

Meeting House, (Orthodox,) 13th st. , between R and S sts. 

n. w. 

German Reformed Church. 

First Reformed Church, corner of <Jth and N sts. n. w. Ger- 
man service in the morning ; English service in the evening. 

Hebrew Synagogues. 

Congregation Adas Israel, (Orthodox,) corner of 6th and G 
sts. n. w. Services every Friday evening at sunset, and every 
Saturday at 8 A. M. and 4 P. M. 

Washington Hebrew Congregation, 8th st,, between H and 
I sts. n. w. Services Friday evening at 7 o'clock and Sabbath 
(Saturday) morning at '.> o'clock. 



82 
Lutheran. 

St. Paul's Church, (English,) corner of 11th and H sts. n. \v. 

Memorial Church, (English,) corner of N and 14th sts. n. w. 

German Evangelical Congregation of Trinity, Unaltered 
Augsburg Confession, corner of 4th and E sts. n. w. 

German Evangelical Church, corner of 20th and G sts. n. w. 

German Evangelical, St. John's Church, 4^ st. s. w. 

Capitol-Hill Mission, 1st st., near C st. s. e. 

German Evangelical Association, (5th st., between L and 
M sts. n. w. 
. Lutheran Church, corner of High and 4th sts. , Georgetown. 

Methodist Episcopal. 

Metropolitan, corner of 4^ and C sts. n. w. 

Foundry Church, corner of 11th and G sts. n. w. 

Wesley Chapel, corner of r>th and F sts. n. w. 

McKendree Church, Massachusetts avenue, between 9th and 
10th sts. n. w. 

Eyland Chapel, corner of 10th and D sts. s. w. 

Union Chapel, 20th st., near Pennsylvania avenue n. w. 

Waugh Chapel, corner of 3d and A sts. n. e. 

Hamline Church, corner of 9th and P sts. n. w. 

Grace Chapel, corner of 9th and S sts. n. w. 

Fourth-Street Church, 4th st., between South Carolina ave- 
nue and G st. s. e. 

Twelfth-Street Church, corner of 12th and E sts. s. e. 

Fletcher Chapel, corner of New York ave. and 4th st. n. w. 

Gorsuch Chapel, corner of L and 4^ sts. s. w. 

Providence Chapel, corner of 2d and I sts. n. e. 

Mt. Zion Chapel, corner of 15th and R sts. n. w. 

McKendree Mission, H st., between 8th and 9th sts. n. e. 

Uniontown, across the Anacostia, nearly opposite the Navy- 
yard. 



83 

Dunbarton Street, between Congress and High sts., George- 
town. 

West Georgetown Church, corner of Fayette and 7th sts., 

Georgetown. 

Methodist Episcopal South. 

Mount Vernon Church, corner Oth and K sts. n. w. 
Methodist Protestant. 

Methodist Protestant Church, on Oth st., between E and F 
sts. n. w. 

First M. P. Church, Virginia avenue, near Navy-yard. 

M. P. Mission, corner of 8th st. and North Carolina ave. s. e. 

Congress-Street Church, between Bridge and Gay sts.. 
Georgetown. 

Mount Pleasant Church, corner of Fayette and High sts., 
Georgetown. 

Methodist Colored Churches. 

Wesley Zion, D st., between 2d and 3d sts. s. w. 
Union Wesley, 23d, near L st. n. w. 
John Wesley, Connecticxit avenue, near L st. n. w. 
Galbraith Chapel, L st., between 4th and ~>th sts. n. w. 
Israel Bethel, corner of B and 1st sts. s. w. 
Union Bethel, M st., between 15th and Kith sts. n. w. 
St. Paul's Chapel, 8th st., between D and E sts. s. w. 
Mt. Pisgah Chapel, 10th st., between Q and K. sts. n. w. 
Asbury, corner of 11th and K sts. n. w. 
Ebenezer, corner of D and -tth sts. s. e. 
Asburi Mission, corner Boundary and Oth sts. n. w. 
Ebenezer A. M. E. Church, Beall st., between Montgomery 
and Monroe sts., Georgetown. 

Mt. Zion M. E. Church, West st., Georgetown. 
A. M. E. Church, Hillsdale, D. C. 
A. M. E. Church, Good Hope, D. C. 



84 
New Jerusalem. 
Temple of the New Jerusalem Church, North Capitol st., 
between B aud C sts. n. e. Seats tree. 

Presbyterian. 

First Presbyterian Church, 44 st., between Louisiana avenue 
and C st. n. w. 

New York Avenue Church, New York avenue, between L3th 
and 14th sts. n. w. 

Fourth Church, !>th st., between G and H sts. n. w. 

Assembly's Church, corner of 5th and I sts. n. w. 

Sixth Church, 6th st., near Maryland avenue, s. w. 

Western Presbyterian Church, H st., between L9th and 20th 
sts. n. w., near Pennsylvania avenue. 

Metropolitan Presbyterian Church, corner of 4th and B sts. 
s. e. 

Westminster Presbyterian Church, 7th st., between D and 
E sts. s. w. 

North Presbyterian, on N st., between i>tli and 10th sts. n.w. 

Reformed Presbyterian, 1st st., between N and O sts. s. w. 

Central Presbyterian, corner of 3d and I sts. n. w. 

Eastern Presbyterian, 8th st., between F and G sts. n. e. 

Gurley Mission, Boundary, near 7th st. n. w. 

West-Street Presbyterian Church, between Congress and 
High sts., Georgetown. 

Presbyterian, ^colored.) 
Fifteenth-Street Presbyterian Church, lf»th st., between I 
and K sts. n. w. 

Roman Catholic. 
St. Patrick's Church, G st., between 0th and 10th sts. n. w. 
The oldest Roman Catholic Church in Washington. 



85 

St. Peter's Church, corner of 2d and C sts. s. e. Built on 
ground donated by Daniel Carroll, of Duddington, one of the 
largest original proprietors of the Federal City. 

St. Matthew's Church, corner of l">th and H sts. n. w. 

St. Mary's Church, f German,) 5th st., near H st. n. w. 

St. Dominic's Church, corner of Gth and E sts. s. w. 

St. Aloysius Church, corner of North Capitol and I sts n. w. 

Church of the Immaculate Conception, corner of Kth and N 
sts. n. w. 

St. Stephen's Church, corner of Pennsylvania avenue and 
25th st. n. w. 

St. Joseph's Church, (German.; corner of 2d and C sts. n. e. 

Trinity Church, corner of 1st and Lingan streets, George- 
town. 

Roman Catholic, (colored.) 

St. Augustine's Church. 15th st., near L st. n. w. 
Unitarian. 

Unitarian Church, corner of nth and D sts. n. w. 
Universalist. 

Mii;kay Universalist Society, Tallmadge Hall, F st., between 
9th and 10th sts. n. w. 

Young Men's Christian Association. 
Yot-no Men's Christian Association IJtiedino, corner of !»th 
and I) sts. n. w. Sunday services at 3£ P. M. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 
From a recent report of the Commissioner of Education we 
extract the following information with regard to the Public 
Schools of the Federal City. 



86 

The whole school population of Washington and Georgetown, 
white and colored, was, in 1873, 29,817. The number of schol- 
ars enrolled in the public schools was 14,953. The value of 
school property amounted to #950,807, the number of buildings 
owned being 23. Beside these, some other buildings were rented 
for school purposes. 

The colored schools are distinct from the white. 

We will mention the locality and names of some of the promi- 
nent school-houses : 

West of Capitol. 

The Franklin, at the corner of 13th and K sts. n. w., and op- 
posite one of the most beautiful squares in the city, is an ex- 
ceedingly fine building of three stories, and contains 11 school- 
rooms. (White.) 

The Seaton, I st., between 2d and 3d sts. n. w.; erected in 
1871. The site of this building was, during the late war, occu- 
pied by Stanton Hospital. (White.) 

The Jefferson, corner of 6th and D sts. s. w. This is the 
largest of all. It was built in 1872, and can accommodate 1200 
scholars. (White.) 

The Sumner, on the n. e. corner of 17th and M sts. n. w.; 
completed. in 1872. This is also a very beautiful buijding ; cost 
$70,000. (Colored.) 

East of Capitol. 

The Wallach, Pennsylvania avenue, between 7th and 8th sts. 
s. e.; built in 1864. This was the first great advance in im- 
proved public school accommodation in Washington, and received 
its name in compliment to the then presiding civic dignitary, 
Mayor Wallach. (White.) 

The Lincoln, corner of 2d and C sts. s. e. It contains 10 
school-rooms, and is a handsome building, with admirable ap- 
pointments. (Colored.) 



87 

WATER-WORKS. 

The water supplying the city of Washington is brought from 
above the Great Falls of the Potomac, l$k miles from the Navy 
Yard. The Aqueduct is a succession of wonderful instances of 
the triumph of the civil engineer. It is a cylindrical conduit of 
9 feet internal diameter, and conveys the water from the Great 
Falls to a Distributing Reservoir, 44 miles from the Capitol. The 
daily supply is 30 millions of gallons ; daily consumption 23 mil- 
lions, and full capacity of the aqueduct HO millions of gallons. 

The first ground was broken on the Washington aqueduct by 
President Pierce, Nov. 8, 1853. It has cost three and a half 
millions of dollars. 

Cabin-John Bridge 
is one of the distinguishing features of this great enterprise. 
The bridge is 20 feet wide and 420 feet long ; a single arch of 
220 ft. spans the chasm. It cost $237,000. Capt., now General 
Montgomery C. Meigs, of the U. S. Corps of Engineers, was the 
constructor of this bridge and of the aqueduct. 

"The length of pipe line is 18 miles; 12 tunnels, the longest 
1,438 feet; total tunnelling, 6,653 feet, and 6 bridges." 

FALLS OF THE POTOMAC. 

The Little Falls of the Potomac are very beautiful, and are 
about 4 miles above Washington, being a series of cascades in 
all of :57 feet. It is here the Chain Bridge, as it is called, 
crosses the river. A curious fact is that all the bridges which 
have crossed the Potomac at this point have been called chain 
bridges, when, in fact, but one was of that construction. The 
bridge erected here before 1 811 was a chain suspension bridge, 
and its various successors (of which there have been several) 



88 

have, in turn, been so called. The present one is a Howe-truss 
iron bridge, free, and cost $ 100, 000. 

The Great Falls, as already stated, are some 10 miles above 
the Little Falls, and are wonderfully grand. The rocky 
channel here is narrowed to 100 yds., and in n, series of cascades 
the river descends 80 feet in the course of a mile and a half. The 
Virginia shore towers 70 feet of perpendicular rock above the 
bed of the river. 

ANALOSTAN ISLAND 

is situated opposite Georgetown, and contains about 70 acres ; it 
is connected with the Virginia shore by a causeway. It was 
formerly the residence of Gen. John Mason, in the war of 1812 
commissary-general. It was once under admirable cultivation, 
and the earliest known Guide-Book of Washington, by Warden, 
gives a glowing account of its fertility and the elegant hospitality 
of its owner. It is now a place of holiday resort for picnics, etc. 
The mansion still stands, dilapidated and shorn of its former 
splendor. The Confederate commissioner to Europe, James M. 
Mason, arrested by Admiral Wilkes, was born on this island. 

CEMETERIES. 

We have in other places mentioned the Arlington, Congres- 
sional, and Oak Hill Cemeteries, and the National Military 
Cemetery at the Soldiers' Home. There are besides these other 
cemeteries of interest of considerable extent and beauty lying 
around the city of Washington. 

The oldest of these is Rock- Creek Church Cemetery, near 
the Soldiers' Home. Bock-Creek Church was first erected in 
1719, rebuilt in 1775, and remodelled in 18G8. The main walls 
are those built in 1711). A monument here bears the date of 




Arlington House. 




Washington's Tomb at Mount Vernon. 




Insane Asylum. 




Cabin-John Bridge. 



89 

177."). About one-half of the glebe belonging to this old parish 
church has of late years been added to the cemetery. The ven- 
erable Peter Force, so long conspicuous in the Federal City, is 
interred here. 

Glenwood Cemetery lies about a mile and a half north of the 
Capitol. It embraces 00 acres, and was incorporated in 1854. 
Amos Kendall, Postmaster-General in the time of Jackson and 
Yan Bureu, is buried here. 

Near the entrance to Glenwood are Prospect Hill Cemetery, 
17 acres; and St. Mary's Burying Ground, 3 acres. 

Mount Olivet Cemetery, comprising 70 acres, is on the 
Columbia turnpike, ^ mile north of the east terminus of the 
Columbia Horse Railway ; incorporated in 1862. Many Roman 
Catholics of eminence are buried here. 

Graceland Cemetery, about 10 acres, is situated at the east 
terminus of the Columbia Horse Railway ; opened IS 11. 

Two of the oldest cemeteries, the Eastern and Western, have 
been displaced by recent improvements, and the many burying- 
places immediately surrounding the churches have had for the 
most part the dead removed from them. 

GEORGETOWN 

is separated from Washington by Rock creek, and lies northwest 
of the city. Hoi'se rail-cars enter Georgetown by both the Penn. 
ave. and P st. routes. It was a town of some importance at the 
time the Federal City was located. Population in L870, 1 L,384. 

Georgetown Heights presents admirable building sites, and 
is occupied by beautiful residences, many of them of a palatial 
character. 

Oak-Hill Cemetery (originally 10 acres) is situated on the 
BeightS, and for beauty of situation, exquisite taste in adorn- 



90 

merit, and general management, challenges comparison with any 
cemetery in the world. It has been gradually enlarged, and was 
originally the gift of Mr. W. W. Corcoran. It now embraces 30 
acres. 

Secretary Stanton, Chief-Justice Chase, and many other dis- 
tinguished dead, are buried here. 

Georgetown High-service Reservoir, with a capacity of 
1,000,000 gallons, is an object of interest. It is at the head of 
Market st.; the surface water is 215 feet above tide, and 70 feet 
above the Distributing Reservoir. 

The Convent of the Visitation, founded in 1799, is an insti- 
tution of note. In the Convent vault a daughter of Gen. Scott 
is buried. She was a religieuse of the order. The Academy 
under the care of the Sisters of the Visitation was founded at 
the same time. In 1873 an addition was made to the establish- 
ment. The Academy grounds include 30 acres. 

Georgetown College, founded in 1789, raised to an university 
in 181"), is probably the oldest Roman Catholic college in the 
country. It is under the care of the Fathers of the Society of 
Jesus. The library contains many rare works and some valuable 
manuscripts ; and in the Museum are coins and medals, with in- 
teresting relics of Commodore Decatur. 

The Linthicum Institute and the Peabody Library are ac- 
commodated in the Public-School building on 2d and Potomac 
sts.; three stories, basement, and mansard, designed by Adolf 
Cluss, and cost $ 70, 000 ; built 187~>. 

Edward Linthicum, a retired hardware merchant, left by will 
$50,000 for the education of poor white boys. George Peabody, 
the world-renowned millionaire philanthropist, (and once a resi- 
dent of Georgetown,) funded .^22,000 to institute the Peabody 
Library. 

A Home for Aged Women is also a thoughtful and beautiful 
charity of this town. 



91 

ALEXANDRIA. 

Alexandria is (I miles distant from Washington. Boats ply 
every hour during daytime between the two cities, and there is 
also hourly railroad communication. The city was founded in 
1748, then called Bellhaven, the beautiful harbor. Population 
in is 70, 13,570. 

Christ Church is an Episcopal church in Alexandria, over a 
hundred years old, (1773,) which General Washington used to 
attend. His pew is pointed out to strangers. 

A National Cemetery is near Alexandria, containing the 
graves of 4,000 soldiers. 

MOUNT VERNON, 

the home and tomb of Washington, is about sixteen miles down 
the Potomac from the Federal city. A boat starts daily, except- 
ing on Sunday, from 7th st. wharf, at 10 A. M., for Mount Ver- 
non ; returning, it reaches Washington about 4 P. M. , thus allow- 
ing excursionists ample time to explore the house and grounds. 
The scenery between Washington and Moxmt Vernon is not 
only beautiful, but replete with interesting national associations. 
A fine view is obtained of Arlington House, on the Virginia 
shoi'e. Opposite it is the Washington Monument, forlorn in its 
unfinished state. Then the receding city passes away like a 
panoramic view, succeeded by the Arsenal ami grounds, the In- 
sane Asylum, and the Navy Yard, while, grandly crowning all, 
is the Capitol, with its graceful dome. 

Alexandria is soon reached. [See Alexandria.] 
Fort Foot, an important earthwork during the late war, i- 
next approached. Again the boat stops a moment at old Fort 
Washington. Both forts are on the Maryland shore. The last 
was built in part by Major L'Enfant. Opposite this fort, on 
high ground, is Mount Vernon House. 



92 

The boat lands at a little wharf reaching far out in the river, 
belonging to the estate. A walk from this wharf leads to the 
Tomb. 

The front of the vault is open, defended by an open iron gate- 
way, through which the sarcophagus containing the remains of 
Washington can be plainly seen. There is also another sarco- 
phagus, containing the remains of Martha, the consort of Wash- 
ington. A number of family graves surround the tomb. 

The mansion fronts the river. The centre was built by Law- 
rence Washington, half-brother of the President, from whom he 
inherited the estate. The more modern portions were added by 
the General. 

The Mount Vebnon Ladies' Association own the mansion 
and contiguous grounds. Their endeavor is to restore them, as 
nearly as possible, to the condition they were in during the life 
of their great owner. 

ARLINGTON. 

Arlington House is situated on Arlington Heights, in Virginia, 
on the south side of the Potomac, in plain view of the Capitol. 
The late war and incidents connected with it have made this a 
place of historic interest. Over fifteen thoiisand of the Union 
dead lie interred around the former beautiful home of the great 
grand-daughter of Martha Washington, who became the wife of 
the Confederate chieftain, Gen. Robert E. Lee. The estate em- 
braced about eleven hundred acres, two hundred of which have 
been set apart as a National Cemetery. 

A very prevalent mistake, reiterated by irresponsible newspa- 
per correspondents, and copied into several of the Washington 
Guide-books, it is our duty to correct. It is very positively as- 
serted that in 18(53 this estate was "sold under the confiscation 



93 

act, and in 18(14 was taken possession of by the National Govern- 
ment." The facts are that the Arlington property was sold at a tax 
» I '< . -I anuary 11,1 SCI, and was never confiscated. It was never the 
property of General Lee, and only a life interest in the property 
was devised to Mrs. Lee, by her father, George Washington Parke 
Custis. The value of the estate, as recorded in the land book of 
the State, was $34,100. The amount which it was sold for at 
the tax sale was $26,800. Arlington House was built by Mr. 
George Washington Parke Custis. It is imposing in appearance, 
and has a frontage of 1-40 feet. The portico is 00 feet long and 
25 feet deep, and is ornamented with eight Doric columns, built 
of brick, plastered. It was long regarded as one of the palatial 
homes of the South. The situation of the mansion is fine, and 
the view from the portico extensive, and for beauty can scarcely 
be excelled. 

The cemetery lying west of the house is devoted to white and 
that lying north to colored dead soldiers. South of the house is 
the "Unknown Tomb,'' in which are placed the remains of 2,111 
unknown soldiers gathered from the battle-fields of Bull Run and 
the route to the Rappahannock. Near this tomb is an amphi- 
theatre, erected in 1873, designed for use on Decoration Day, ca- 
pable of accommodating 5,000 persons. 

In regard to this estate, it has also been very currently reported 
that it was bequeathed by Gen. Washington to Mr. Custis, his 
adopted son. The truth is Mr. Custis inherited it from his 
father, John Parke Custis, and Gen. Washington never owned it. 
The founder of the American family of Custis was an emigrant 
inn-keeper, formerly of Rotterdam, Holland, who, about 1668, 
married the daughter of Edmund Scarburgh, prominent in early 
Colonial times as surveyor-general of the State and a repres< ata- 
tive of Accomac county, Va. The marriage with this lady gave 
him immense landed possessions. 



94 

Fort Whipple, 

is situated a short distance northwest from Arlington House. 
It is the only one of the many forts built near Washington 
during the late war that has not been dismantled. It is now a 
station for instruction in signalling. 

BLADENSBURG. 

This old town, founded in 1750, is in Prince George's county, 
Md. , and is about six miles n. e. of Washington ; it is situated 
on the Anacostia or Eastern Branch of the Potomac, which was 
in former times navigable to this point, and was the great to- 
bacco centre of the surrounding country. 

It is famous for having been, in 1814, the site of the battle of 
Bladensburg, August 24, in which we were beaten by the British, 
who pursued the retreating Americans to Washington. The 
rapidity with which this retreat was effected gained for the un- 
fortunates the facetious title of The Bladensburg Racers. 

Near this village, in a secluded spot, was the famous duelling- 
ground where Commodore Decatur fell in 1820. Numerous 
other duels have been fought here, one of the most noted being 
that in which Graves and Cilley were engaged. 

Bladensburg has also been celebrated for a chalybeate spring, 
claimed to possess medicinal properties of great value. 

Proposed Lincoln Monument. 
It has been proposed to erect a monument of great elegance 
and superior workmanship in front of the Capitol to commem- 
orate the history of the Martyr President. An engraving in this 
volume represents the model, by the artist, Clarke Mills, pre- 
sented to the committee in charge of the object. Whether it 
will eventually be placed there remains with the American peo- 
ple to determine. God speed the right ! 



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